Waiting for The Italian Job

Whatever type of job it is - this remake is big. Wahlberg, Theron and Norton are a winning team, but is this film any cop? We go joyriding and for a sneak peek of this classy getaway flick.

So let's get the controversial bit out of the way. In a recent interview with a film magazine, Edward Norton urged his fans not to go and see this movie, which clearly is a good start to publicising the film. This has probably something to do with him avoiding his contract with Paramount Pictures to do another couple of films following his award nominated performance in his first film Primal Fear. But despite being a big fan of Norton, who is clearly the star of this film despite his co-starring role, there is something quite compelling about this remake especially as the 1960s original crime caper was so damn fun.

In his THIRD remake (the others being a remake of Planet of the Apes and Charades/The Truth About Charlie) action-man Mark Wahlberg is back, playing the role of Charlie Croker who leads a gang of thieves in a complicated heist. The hook is that they all drive around in Mini Coopers which allows them to do a number of death-defying car stunts and perform some breath-taking car chases around the stream-lined cobbly streets of Europe.

The lovely Charlize Theron is on call as a safecracker as well as doubling up as Wahlberg's love interest, and well, Norton is back as the double-crosser (as last seen in another heist gig - The Score) and seemingly plays it well. Stealing a ride also are Buffy star Seth Green, the legendary Donald Sutherland and Jason Stratham who is better known as erm, Kelly Brook's fiance and that bloke from < i> Lock Stock. The director behind The Negotiator and Set It Off, F. Gary Gray, is pulling the strings behind the lens so we can expect something quite spectacular at least.

There's only one sequence set in Europe (Venice, Italy) with the rest unfolding on the streets and highways of L.A. You only have to see the trailer to appreciate that it's stylistically different than other intelligent heist films of late like Ocean's Eleven. Instead, it has gone for a stunningly big production with speedboats, explosions, guns and helicopters each playing a very intricate part in their little cat and mouse chase scenes. The boat sequences in Venice look like a lot of fun and the high-impact stunt chase through the highway and sewage systems will give a lot of other car films a run for their money.

We're looking to one particular chase that promises to throw L.A. traffic into a complete standstill as the thieves rig up the traffic light system during their getaway. Thankfully there seems to be a lot of humour crafted into the scenarios they end up in as well especially when they're trying to decide what to do with the money on top of the mountains, though we won't hold our breath to likening to any cockney chuckles we got from the original.

Intrigued? The film is already out in the States and hits the UK in September.

Transistor Sister
Staff writer, Kikizo Movies