Michael Caine’s 2011 spiritual sequel to ‘The Italian Job’: “We blow every bloody door off”
Unsurprisingly, for an actor who spent more than 60 years in front of the camera and took a fair few of those jobs for no other reason than the money, Michael Caine has a curious and complicated history with sequels.
In the years before his retirement, he reprised several roles in recurring franchises, most notably Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and the first two Now You See Me flicks, but his relationship with reprising a role dates back to the 1960s, long before the sequelisation epidemic caught fire.
He played Harry Palmer three times in three years, and he was immensely proud of his work in the original trilogy, but when he brought the character back in a couple of made-for-television pictures three decades later, it became seared into his memory as one of the worst experiences of his entire career.
Caine also starred in the terrible follow-up to The Poseidon Adventure, made a cameo appearance in Sylvester Stallone’s diabolical Get Carter remake, dropped the most famous one-liner of his career when he missed out on collecting his first Oscar in person because of Jaws: The Revenge, and starred in the remake of his own film, Sleuth, to name a few.
One of the beloved veteran’s most famous features didn’t get a sequel, but it did get a remake. The Italian Job ends on the most famous cliffhanger of Caine’s career, and while it didn’t get the follow-up he wanted, he was at least kind enough to share what happened after the credits rolled, and it would have been a damn sight more interesting than watching Mark Wahlberg in the 2003 version.
However, cinema’s greatest-ever cockney export did get the opportunity to channel the spirit of Charlie Croker in the most unlikely circumstances. If anything, it channelled two of his most famous parts, with the two-time Academy Award winner making the bold claim that his part in Cars 2, Finn McMissile, was a better spy than not only Harry Palmer, but another agent played by two of his closest friends.
“He’s much cleverer than James Bond, or any other spy you’ve ever seen,” the veteran teased at the expense of Sean Connery and Roger Moore, with the star doubling down on needling his old pals by suggesting that the anthropomorphised automobile was also “cleverer than Harry Palmer, the spy I played,” adding that “Sean and Roger don’t even know how to switch on a computer.”
Beyond that, he also invoked the spirit of The Italian Job, and if Pixar’s marketing team had any sense about them, they’d have lifted the line and used it on the posters. Cars 2 may not immediately leap to mind as an obvious spiritual sequel of Caine’s, but he was adamant that, “In this one, we blow every bloody door off.”
The obvious difference between them is that one of them was good and the other was not. The Italian Job endures as one of Caine’s most iconic star vehicles, whereas his foray into the world of Pixar remains the worst movie that animation powerhouse has ever made. It’s not the worst that Caine has ever made, though, because there are plenty more qualified candidates than that.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Michael Caine Newsletter
All the latest stories about Michael Caine from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.