Whisper this quietly  this is actually rather good!

Rating: Null/10 (29 July 2004)

When it was announced that the classic 1960's Michael Caine crime caper The Italian Job was going to be remade  and set in Los Angeles  there was a cry of uproar from avid fans of the original possibly including I admit myself.
True fans of the original where careful to avoid the new one and quick of the mark to knock it down often without having even seen it.
I reserved judgement until the DVD landed in a bargain bin and I picked up a copy. To my utmost horror  it was actually rather good.
Indeed (sacrilege I hear you cry!) it is just a shade better than the original!
Strong performances, excellent driving and a well written and directed script all lead to probably one of the best remakes of recent times. Having said that, calling it a remake is a bit wrong really, this is more of a sequel or homage to the original, there is indeed an Italian Job involving the theft of a safe in a daring and original raid in Venice complete with canals.
It is the proceeds of this caper that cause all the problems and lead us to the scenario that forms the basis of the film, and all in all it works rather well.
There are of course a few areas that don't work, one or two sequences seem a bit slow and unnecessary but overall this is well put together and certainly worth watching although it may not blow everybody's bloody doors off!
Just a pity about those naff new type Mini's though.