Once again Hollywood proves that it doesn’t have an original thought in its head by once more remaking an old movie by giving it a modern twist. Gone In 60 Seconds is a remake of the 1974 Swedish movie of the same name and therefore we can’t really be surprised at the deeply cliche ridden plot as all the things which have been done to death in the last 30 years were probably original at the time. Hollywood seems to be of the opinion that if a formula is broken then there is no need to fix it, which is fine, but it makes for some pretty boring cinema viewing after a while, which in my view means it broke a long time ago. Gone In 60 Seconds was a Summer movie, and therefore you can’t really expect it to be anything more than a bit of fluff, all action and no substance and that is precisely what you get here. Thats not to say that it isn’t fun though and as long as you check your brain at the door then you’ll probably love it.
So...utilising every cliche in the book, the acknowledged master of the action flick, Jerry Bruckheimer, puts Nicholas Cage (Face Off/Con Air etc. etc.) in the lead role as ‘Memphis’ Raines, car-theif extraordinaire. Memphis was he best in the business but gave it all up to go straight, however his younger brother Kip has followed in his footsteps but without quite so much success. After botching a job he falls into deep water with Mr Nasty - Christopher Eccleston who plays Raymond Calitri and Memphis is told that unless he steals 50 of America’s most expensive cars in the next 3 days his brother gets it...how could he refuse.? Gathering up a rag-tag band of assorted car theives from his past including his ex-girlfriend Sway played by Angelina Jolie(The Bone Collector, Girl Inerrupted) and the rest of Kip’s associates they get to work moving methodically down the list. However, their efforts are hampered by two cops - Castlebeck and Drycoff who are intent of catching Memphis having got a beef with him from way back when. The stage is then set...
It would be easy to pull this movie apart piece by piece - the cliched plot, the shallow characterisation, direction from the overused Hollywood handbook but that would be to completely ignore the fun element. As I said before this is a summer movie directed by Jerry Bruckheimer, so basically you get exactly what you would expect to see. Come into this movie expecting anything else and you will be sorely disappointed but check your brain at the door, settle back with some munchies and prepare to enjoy a dumb old action flick with dumb cops, mindless action sequences and more than a few testosterone pumpin car chases. Nicholas Cage is his usual self here - hangdog, tired expression, strange mannerisms, clearly adding nothing new to his repertoir. The rest of the cast are complete charicatures, but neither of these things matter as its the actin which is this movie’s main selling point. Any attempt to add a deeper dimension to the characters or plot would have been completely wasted as most of the audience would be waiting for the next high speed car chase anyway so why bother wasting time and effort on such matters? If you’re looking for a movie with depth then look elsewhere, because this isn’t the place to start looking.
The plot is extremely formulaic. The number of times we have seen a reformed criminal dragged back out of retirement to save the day is countless. Its obvious from the start what is going to happen and no time is wasted attempting to prove otherwise. I could point out the numerous plot-holes, the unlikeliness of some situations, the questions which are never answered, but what would be the point? The point of this movie is fun, nothing more nothing less and thats exactly what it delivers. No one who comes into this movie with their eyes open would expect anything more of it and not being surprised otherwise isn’t exactly a problem. We have come to accept and to enjoy this sort of thing from Hollywood. Yes its nice when something different comes along and these types of movie are usually massively successfull, but these movies are few and far between and for the rest of the time you have to settle for something less.
Gone in 60 Seconds is ’something less’, a distinctly average action movie yet with enough excitement to make it worth the watch. At the risk of sounding sexist, its probably more of a lads movie than one for the ladies, but if you like action movies, fast cars and Nicholas Cage then your in for a treat. It comes highly recommended for a night of no-braining on the sofa with a couple of beers and a pile of munchies. Go check it out.