I admit it, I get excited at the sight of a sleek hunk of wheeled machinery built for speed. So, this movie was like eating a large candy bar for me. Not terribly filling, but enjoyable enough while it lasts. Nobody puts in a real standout performance. The characters are all stock (the natural, the veteran, the rookie with something to prove, the hacker etc...) but are cast well enough to hold your interest most of the time. Except the bad guy, he comes across as just crazy instead of dangerous. This movie could have had very serious niche appeal to gearheads with a greater emphasis on the cars, but alas Bruckheimer and crew wanted to give it more mass appeal so the story focuses on family love and interaction and tends to shy away from serious chases. Things do finally get revved up near the end, but the chase is for the most part ridiculous "action film" exaggeration instead of smartly edited scenes of fast cars doing what they're built to do (a la Bullitt). There are some real beauties on display, even if only for a few frames here and there, but for what must have been budget constraints nothing gets pushed around all that hard. Save for "Eleanor", a beautiful tricked out 67 Mustang (meant to be a Shelby GT, not even close). If you love cars you'll find enough to interest you here for a little while, though you may feel compelled to hit fast forward at times through the character intensive bits. If you want to see lots of cars go fast, though, see the original. Its plot was equally as transparent but they didn't skimp when it came to action.
Review of Gone in 60 Seconds
