Running time: 124 minutes
Starring: Vin Diesel, Samuel L Jackson, Asia Argento, Marton Csokas
Rating 6 out of 10
When XXX aka Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) says, "I like anything fast enough to do something stupid in," it could just as well have been Diesel talking about his career. Rapidly emerging as the hottest new action hero, Diesel is well aware of his strengths, which are an imposing physique, a voice deep enough to register on the Richter scale and a mischievous grin that suggests he doesn't take things too seriously, least of all himself. It's just as well as the only serious thing about his films is the money they make. His limitations are equally evident. It's hard to see Diesel evolving beyond a tough guy, armed with an impressive selection of weapons and snappy one-liners, but while it's still new it's entertaining.
XXX is based on the James Bond movies, with Xander as a less refined and more testosterone-fuelled 007. Given Diesel's presence, and the film's unrelenting pace, it could also just as easily have been called The Faster And The More Furious. For the best part of two hours, barely a moment passes without someone getting killed or something being blown up. The impressive stunts rival Diesel as the star of the film. Their frequency leaves little room for anything else other than a cursory nod towards a plot. Instead it allows Diesel more opportunities to deliver lines like "If you're going to send someone to save the world, make sure they like it the way it is," with the perfect blend of bravado and humour.
As a world-renowned extreme sports star, Xander had little interest in saving the world. That was until he is plucked by the US government's National Security Agency to become a special agent. After passing a series of elaborately staged tests, devised by NSA's boss, Augustus Gibbons (Samuel Jackson), Xander is dispatched to Prague to infiltrate a militant group called Anarchy 99, led by the disenfranchised Czech Secret Servicemen Yorgi (Marton Csokas), who are hatching a plan to poison the world by use of a gas known as Silent Night.
The comparisons between XXX and James Bond are obvious. Gibbons adopts the paternal roll assumed by M, while the techno wizard Q is embodied by Toby Shavers (Michael Roof), who provides Xander with an impressive arsenal of gadgetry with which to undertake his mission, including a tricked out GTO. Though Bond contends with a bevy of girls, Xander confines his interest to the alluring KGB agent Yelena (Asia Argento) who is also trying to stop Yorgi's global destruction.
With a sequel already planned, the outcome was never in doubt. The only thing of concern was how director Rob Cohen proposed to keep topping the increasingly outlandish action sequences. He managed it, but only by abandoning the film's tenuous grasp on realism. Given that it succeeded in its intent of going to the maXXX, it was a small price to pay.
XXX is based on the James Bond movies, with Xander as a less refined and more testosterone-fuelled 007. Given Diesel's presence, and the film's unrelenting pace, it could also just as easily have been called The Faster And The More Furious. For the best part of two hours, barely a moment passes without someone getting killed or something being blown up. The impressive stunts rival Diesel as the star of the film. Their frequency leaves little room for anything else other than a cursory nod towards a plot. Instead it allows Diesel more opportunities to deliver lines like "If you're going to send someone to save the world, make sure they like it the way it is," with the perfect blend of bravado and humour.
As a world-renowned extreme sports star, Xander had little interest in saving the world. That was until he is plucked by the US government's National Security Agency to become a special agent. After passing a series of elaborately staged tests, devised by NSA's boss, Augustus Gibbons (Samuel Jackson), Xander is dispatched to Prague to infiltrate a militant group called Anarchy 99, led by the disenfranchised Czech Secret Servicemen Yorgi (Marton Csokas), who are hatching a plan to poison the world by use of a gas known as Silent Night.
The comparisons between XXX and James Bond are obvious. Gibbons adopts the paternal roll assumed by M, while the techno wizard Q is embodied by Toby Shavers (Michael Roof), who provides Xander with an impressive arsenal of gadgetry with which to undertake his mission, including a tricked out GTO. Though Bond contends with a bevy of girls, Xander confines his interest to the alluring KGB agent Yelena (Asia Argento) who is also trying to stop Yorgi's global destruction.
With a sequel already planned, the outcome was never in doubt. The only thing of concern was how director Rob Cohen proposed to keep topping the increasingly outlandish action sequences. He managed it, but only by abandoning the film's tenuous grasp on realism. Given that it succeeded in its intent of going to the maXXX, it was a small price to pay.
