Not too bad

Rating: Null/10 (20 September 2003)

When I first heard of this remake, I was sure it was going to be awful, and that it would never live up to the Michael Caine original.
As it happens, there's not much living up to do, since it bears so little resemblance to the original that directly comparing the two would make no sense. There are one or two points which can be compared (and I will get to them), but other than that, this film can quite easily be considered by itself.
The first comparable point (which is quite minor, really), is the characters. Yes, Mr. Bridger and Charlie Croker have the same names as the original characters, but that is where their similarities end. Please, if you're doing a film with the same title and same character names, make the characters at least similar.
The bulk of the film is very enjoyable- a heist is pulled off rather successfully, one partner double crosses the others, and things kick off when the cheated partners go out for revenge.
It has casing jobs, safe-cracking, breaking in and a couple of great getaways- all the ingredients of a good heist film.
Unfortunately, it has one thing that heist movies do not need- emotional ties. What is it with Hollywood these days, that means that every film needs to have some kind of personal reason for things happening? Why couldn't they just make a heist film about a group of thieves trying to steal gold because it's there, rather than because it was taken by someone who killed your dad / friend / brother / favourite poodle?
So... the ties are set up, the heist is planned and pulled off, and they make their getaway. This is where the second comparison comes in. The original film featured a very long race through underground shopping centres, down church steps, over roofs, all to avoid a traffic jam. Whilst this new film features cars racing down steps, and through tunnels, it's very obviously a case of "fans will expect this, so we'll put it in", as there's very little of it, and it does to some extent seem tacked on.
Admittedly, this section of the film did please me a little bit, in that Croker says "let's do it like The Italian Job". Although his reference to the characters is referring to the job pulled in the film's opening, it also seemed to be a nod to the original as this section did bear the most similarity to its namesake.
Overall, I quite liked The Italian Job. It did have some flaws, but then it had some great moments. I found it very enjoyable to watch, and would advise others to see it.