Thanks for the memories!

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Unwatchable . . . which is truly unfortunate, since Charlize Theron was always someone I could watch, no matter what the production was, until this turkey.Sorry folks, but this is such a disappointing flop. I did try to stick with it, hoping it would somehow improve further into the story, but no, it just became an unintended parody of itself.The intention seems to be an attempt at a more whimsical remake of the original film, but instead, it just came off ridiculously misguided and pointless. The clichéd caricatures of the various parts were just annoyingly simplistic, an insult to the cast of actors, all of whom are quite credible and talented. There was no depth of character development, nothing . . . just flat, cardboard representations of excruciatingly obvious non-entity clichés.I hope the actors at least were paid well for their time spent with this loser project.As for anyone actually watching this turkey, spare yourself the misery, and don't become a loser of your valuable time.

More a homage to the 1969 heist caper than a true remake, the 2003 'The Italian Job' fascinatingly takes place in a universe in which the Michael Caine film exists with our heroes plotting to carry out a heist and "do it like 'The Italian Job'". What similarities exist between the films are entirely due to the characters here taking inspiration, and the parallels are very few, one chase sequence aside. With an essentially new plot, we are treated to better fleshed out characters. Donald Sutherland only appears briefly, but the surrogate father bond between him and Mark Wahlberg (in the Caine role) is so strong that it provides ample motivation. The chemistry between the characters sizzles more here too. There is a lot of great repartee and some genuine laugh-out-loud bits, such as Seth Green imitating Jason Statham, accent and all. More interesting as the characters may be though, the performances are not quite as good. Wahlberg is particularly ineffectual - too withdrawn and uncharismatic for the leader of his gang, and his predictable romance with Charlize Theron lacks sparks. Some of the stunt work is also a tad over-elaborate. There is an instance in which Wahlberg survives a glass window shattering in his face without any cuts or bruises. For the most part though, this is a very impressive remake, just as effective upon revision, and if it were not for a corny ending, one might even argue it as superior to the original.

Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) assembles a crack team to pull off one last job; a daring heist of a safe which contains $35 million dollars worth of gold bars. However, shortly after the heist has been completed, one of the team turns against the others and escapes with the gold and leaves the remaining members of the team for dead. Following this betrayal, Charlie and his crack team which includes computer genius Lyle (Seth Green), explosives expert Left Ear (Mos Def), and getaway driver Handsome Rob (Jason Statham) set to work in recovering the gold back from the 'rat' in the group with the assistance of safe cracker Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron).I saw the 1969 version of The Italian Job some time ago and remember finding it reasonably enjoyable (although I recall it having a rather bizarre ending). However, I have to admit to possibly enjoying this remake/reboot slightly more....I think the biggest strength of this film lies with the characters and their dialogues; as we're introduced to each character we're given a little bit of background information on each character in order to explain away their relevant 'expertise' but it's done in a way that was both funny and clever. I quite liked the way that each character was set-up in this way. I also felt a great sense of camaraderie between the cast; the whole production was done in a very slick and tongue in cheek manner; I thought the scenes between Green and Statham were the funniest and strongest scenes, but the rest of the cast were all great as well.Another big strength with this film is that it's just so much fun; some heists films have a tendency to become over-plotted and throw in twist after twist. However, with the Italian Job we're just given a straight-forward plot, but yet it's still entertaining enough to keep you interested.The chase sequences are fun, the direction, editing and basically all technical areas are also excellent resulting in a film that's not only fun, but it's also quite a good looking film too.Perhaps having low expectations helped here - I thought the original was a good film rather than a great one so I wasn't expecting much here, but the plot moved along almost as fast as the Minis, the script and the camaraderie between the cast were also top notch and above all else it was fun. Definitely worth watching (especially if you were a fan of the original).

Mindless car chase heist thriller apparently a remake of a much better film. The early film is of course not available on Netflix streaming.Cost 60 million grossed 176 million...Had a black director...so won all kinds of prizes...it was not taut and the filming below average so it gets a 5. Usually in this price range Hollywood can crank out tight beautifully crafted camera work....The idea of repeating the tactics of having the 1 ton safe crash through 2 floors into a canal with a 20 ton armored truck was clever and had a nice touch of covering up the hole made with a sheet of steel...why not make it asphalt covered that would have been even more funny. Having them escape on an Amtrak train made me scratch my head as probably the worst idea they could possibly come up with if this was a real heist. I have yet to take an Amtrak train that was not at least 6 hours late.They must have consumed all their money on the stunts which were quasi believable plus car chases all of which are kind of ho hum any more...controlling traffic lights yawn...Amtrak??? pours cold water on any thing.Add better writers. Tight Hollywood film craft for hard to do angles etc...then it would have got a 6 or even a 7 as normal fareI like this kind of genre but there needs to be some suspense this takes skill and subtlety not dollars...this thing has the twists but they are not scary nor suspenseful---it also has sort of corny humor feel good 50s squareness to it (one gang member dreaming of how he would spend his money wanted a stereo that would blow women's clothes off)--added half a star for that oddity though others might subtract half a star.Read some of the 1 star reviews they are entertaining...this thing doesn't exactly bore but I looked at the time left several times....Recommend? if you have time to kill or a female under 16 apparently the largest audience group...(they thought the male stars hot ????--and I am gay they did zero for me--except maybe the 500 pound guy or the Ukrainians--joke) This is your review, you may delete or edit it.