Compared to the first? Why bother. This one stands on its own twelve wheels

Rating: Null/10 (24 July 2003)

Spoilers
This is my favorite genre, a gang of players with different talents joining together to crack a big one. I wouldn't try to go through the array of these movies since the first Italian Job (1969), or even further back. The most recent is Oceans Eleven (another remake) which is quite good. The relationship of the people there however is more casual and transient. What I like about Italian Job (the new one) is the closer bond of comradeship which makes the bonanza that much sweeter. But then, the caper doesn't even have to be a success either. In League of Gentlemen (1959) when Jack Hawkins was napped and brought to the police prison van, the sight of his seven buddies already sitting in the van waiting for him brought a wave of joy to the audience that it could be called nothing other than a happy ending.
The only thing I remember of the old Italian Job is the Mini Cooper chase scene, which has to be what 99.9 per cent of the audience will remember most. That doesn't really matter, and I believe that stories are entirely different anyway, as with other remakes such as Ocean's Eleven and Thomas Crown Affair, where the title and main characters are probably the only things kept. Here, at least we still have the mini Coopers. But let's forget about comparisons and see what this Italian Job has to offer.
Having seen comments that the movie is too long and too bland, I have different thoughts. I believe that this done by intention, packaging the movie into something that is quite different from movies we see today, that are continuing to try to top one another by pushing onto the audience characters with edges, angles and exaggerations that that are meant to draw attention (but often fails). The Italian Job offers something that is quite different, indeed opposite. In Stella Bridges (Charlize Theron), there is a sweet coyness which haven't been around for a long time, reminiscing of adolescent romances back in the fifties and sixties. Charlie Croker (Mark Wahberg), the self-assured hero, the determined mastermind, is also presented as a well-contained understatement. Neither the lady-killing flamboyant adventurer (Jason Statham) nor the IT wiz guy (Seth Green) have the exaggeration usually seen in their counterparts in other movies, and the black explosive expert (Mos Def) is almost unnoticeable.
Even the villain is uninteresting, not particularly smart and sometime verges on being comical, especially towards the end. Norton achieved this objective first and foremost of course through his acting ability, but is helped considerably by the moustache and goatee. His use of a high pitch, nasal voice does the rest.
The end result is something quite surprising. Blending together these low-key characters creates a movie that goes down as smoothly as spring water, quite refreshing from all the highly charged emotional conflicts we see in a majority of movies today, most of which, unfortunately, are not that well done.
Many complain that the movie is too long and I beg to differ. For a movie of this style and intention, the length (of close to two hours) is a good match, even perhaps not a complete necessity. The details lend credibility to the story and the waiting makes the finale that much more enjoyable. In addition to the title and the name of the main character, what absolutely must be kept for The Italian Job is of course the Mini Cooper chase. Teleported to L.A., this sequence is repackaged with some delightful originality, such as the three vehicles squeezing in succession into the subway track in front of the approaching train, with only split-seconds to spare. Remake or not, The Italian Job is worth watching.