Slow start, builds up, but loses steam

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2004)

Movies about large-scale heists are just so fun to watch. After George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Andy Garcia thrilled with a casino heist in Ocean's Eleven, Donald Sutherland, Charlize Theron, Mark Wahlberg, Jason Statham, Seth Green and Mos Def steal back hundreds of bars of gold from a double-crosser in The Italian Job.
Like Ocean's Eleven, The Italian Job involves extremely ambitious plans to steal. The movie starts off with an Italian job of stealing gold bars. Unfortunately one man within the team double-crosses them and makes away with the gold. John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) is killed. The team enlists the help of his daughter, Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron), an expert safe cracker, to help them steal back the gold.
The movie builds up tempo pretty well, although much of the main plot happens in the later part of the movie. The action sequences were well executed, and how they got the van into the subway was an eye-opener. The getaway seemed to easy, and the two security guards on the motorcycles were very quickly gotten rid off. Unlike Ocean's Eleven, which sprung a surprise getaway method, the rest of The Italian Job's getaway was predictable and was almost on the verge of being boring.
I would say I enjoyed Ocean's Eleven more than The Italian Job. But honestly, The Italian Job is still a pretty good movie. If you haven't watched it, you should give it a try.
7 out of 10