A remake, but one can easily say a remake worth doing and with satisfactory results. Well if you like shallow flashy action films with standard Bruckheimer sunset visuals, one could almost say...Bay porn.
'Randall "Memphis" Raines' (Cage) is back in town but just as quickly he's got a problem that's gonna involve nicking cars again. His brother has pissed off a British crime boss for not completing his task so 'Memphis' must steal 50 cars in one night to bail his bro out of trouble.
Fast n easy story telling here folks, no beating around the bush, once the plot is established we get a quick team recruitment montage ('Armageddon' with car jackers) and then we're off. If you like cars and enjoy seeing car porn then this film is for you, 50 luscious cars all filmed as if they were lingerie models, with various individual motors given special Bruckheimer camera treatment.
The characters are cliched and unimportant, a kinda of greasy 'Ocean's Eleven' motley crew that are there purely to garner the odd giggle. Admittedly here and there this is accomplished but its no riot by any means. We don't learn much about these people, only that they all have skills in pinching cars, a team of super car thieves, best in town, all led by the daddy Robert Duvall.
Some good character actors in the cast/team, Scott Caan who is used to teams with the first two 'Ocean's' films, Will Patton from another well known Bay/Bruckheimer flick, decent actor Giovanni Ribisi and of course Jolie who looks like an unwashed skank.
What I do find amusing is the way car thieves are treated in this. Cage's character is given real hero status with a 'Robin Hood-like' persona and his own emotional score. Its almost as if the film is trying to say car jacking is cool, OK and will get you laid. I also agree with Cage's character towards the end when he turns up with the last car. He's managed to steal 49 cars in one night, all in perfect condition and he's just turned up with the last, 12 mins late, yet the British crime boss with the awful Lancastrian accent (Christopher Eccleston) still isn't happy!. I'd be like...'f**k you!', really I would.
As you would expect every visual aspect of this film looks scrummy, as slick n shiny as...err an oil slick, yes that's right. The cars thunder around with their engines amped up good n proper, but this being a US film the Mustang gets all the focus, the Yanks love their Mustang (despite the fact they stole a Jaguar XJ220! I think that's better). In fact you could say this film is an extension of the car chase in the 'The Rock', remember? with that yellow car, whatever it was. Its just like that visually, but with more sunsets.
So yeah, 'Top Gun' with cars and a bunch of dirty quirky characters, plus Cage acting sensibly for once accept in one scene. High production values and you know where most of that went, the cast of cars is impressive and does make you drool. Yet I saw no Evo's, Impreza's or Skylines.
A pure slice of popcorn silliness that isn't suppose to be anything else. Its simple fast n furious fun with fast sexy cars, quick quips and lots of smash ups. If you don't know to expect this then you clearly don't know about Bruckheimer films.
6.5/10
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