The Italian Job is a remake of a movie I've never seen before, so why bother comparing? (Okay, so the original from 1969 starred Michael Caine, so I probably should see it.) From the trailer, I felt like I'd seen this one already, and for the most part you have seen the basics. There's just a few minor tweaks, but it still irks me off many of the interesting items that would've been pleasant surprises, weren't.

The film seems to want to take the place this summer that The Bourne Identity had last summer, plus a bit of Heist thrown in for the criminal intrigue. Some European scenery never hurts, and there's an extended chase scene involving three VW Mini Coopers, while Matt Damon and Franka Potente outran the cops in a Mini in Bourne, a better chase than in The Italian Job. But hey, there are, count 'em, three Minis here, which turns into a pretty nifty advertisement for the cars.

It's not the car chase that's the best action scene, though. A boat chase through the tight canals in Venice is intensely zestful, driven by Jason Statham, last seen as a superheroic Transporter.

Donald Sutherland is the grizzled veteran thief and father to mega-babe Charlize Theron. Mark Wahlberg is Sutherland's junior partner, taking over the reigns with the Venice gig. Ed Norton, well, Eddie is disgruntled and doesn't like being No. 2, and his deception fuels the last two-thirds of the movie for the good guys.

I have no complaints about any of this casting, since I like every one of them and know they will always put forth a solid effort, and The Italian Job doesn't give me a reason to think otherwise. Sure, there's not enough time to get to know any of them extensively, but with a large cast that's always the case.

The rest of the typical band of colorful characters is the always-agreeable Seth Green (the computer geek), Jason Statham (getaway driver), Mos Def (demolition) and Franky G. (auto detail). It's a diverse gang of lovable rogues, so of course we root for them to be thieves, but, you know, only to people who might deserve it. Oh, what exceptions we will make in order to root for movie characters. Maybe we can accept 'honor among thieves,' or maybe we just need someone to root for, even if they lead less than clean lives.

In the end any formulaic predictability or that the trailer gives away too much doesn't matter. The Italian Job is a summer caper flick with humor, a hip cast, cool chases, clever heists and bouncy music - so it's no work for the audience. Which is peachy keen as far as I'm concerned.