Very poor

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2003)

Okay, I went into the cinema determined to forget that it was a "remake" of a damn fine film. I was going to judge it on it's own merits. I chose to do this I already knew it had little to do with the original or even Italy as the title suggests.
Even if I look at it as a film on it's own, it fails on every level. The script is stunned, the delivery of these poor lines is also lacking, there is NO character depth and it is amazingly slow. After the gang pull the job in Venice and are discussing spending the cash in the Alps, the conversation is so stilted, it's like an awkward moment at a dinner party, no one seemed to know what to say. That's just a small example. The lines were standard pap and predictable in every way. When the film moved to USA it totally slowed down, big long discusion and recon of the baddies lair, convulted explainations on how they could involve the minis. A pointless subplot with ukranians that suggested it might get interesting but totally failed. Wooden acting from Mark Whalberg and Edward Norton just looking unhappy to be even involved in the film. All this without even thinking about the original.
Just to compare briefly, the original was a fun crime caper, it was all about the hiest with a minor sub plot of the Mafia to keep Caine on his toes. It was excellently paced too, the development of the job, the set up and the actually heast and mini chase, all evenly spread through the film. The mini chase lasted for quite a while and used them to maximum effect. Whereas this remake uses the mini for about 15 mins at the end (the only decent bit) and spends too long on the setup.
All in all, it just seems a waste on all levels to me but it might improve mini sales.