XXX Movie Review:


There is a new modern James Bond type secret agent and his name is Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) and he arrives just in time to save the world in the action film XXX.

Before becoming a secret agent, Xander risks his life by selling web videos of his crazy stunts while just barely escaping with his life and the police.

In fact, in the opening sequences of the film, we see Xander steal a corvette from a politician and drive it off a bridge while parachuting to the ground.

But life catches up with him in the form of National Security Agency (NSA) honcho Augustus Gibbons (Samuel Jackson) with an ultimatum. Either work for the NSA as a secret agent or go to jail.

As reluctant and anti-authority as Xander is it doesn’t take him much time to decide that working with Gibbons is better than being locked up in jail.

First, Gibbons puts Xander through a bunch of tests to make sure he is the man for the job. These include having Xander defend himself in a diner stick-up and being dropped into a Columbian cocaine farm to fend for himself against vicious drug dealers and the Columbian army.

Anybody who believes Xander doesn’t pass with flying colors and without a scratch on him is still recovering from his lobotomy.

Once Gibbons is sure Xander is the right man he sends him to Prague on a special assignment. You see, there is a secret criminal gang called Anarchy 99 run by an ex-Russian soldier called Yorgi (Marton Csokas) and his pretty girlfriend Yelena (Asia Argento).

This group of gangsters has already killed one NSA agent trying to infiltrate them. Making matters worse is that Anarchy 99 is planning something big that will kill millions of people if not stopped in time.

That’s where Xander who likes to be called X comes in. If you forget his name, it’s tattooed on his neck and possibly on other places on his body if you check carefully. Gibbons feels that not only does X have the skills for the job of stopping Yorgi but also the look and feel of a wild criminal making him perfect as an undercover agent to be accepted by Anarchy 99.

Obviously things don’t go smoothly and X must use all his macho skills and then some to save the world and get the pretty Yelena. If you are wondering, yes he does get fun high tech gadgets to use just like James Bond.

It doesn’t hurt that he is very good at extreme sports and can adapt to any situation no matter how unrealistic it is. Another useful skill X possesses is the ability not to get hit even when there are helicopter gun ships right behind him shooting rockets and machine gun fire at him.

XXX can’t be taken too seriously in order to enjoy the thrilling stunts and special effects that are thrown at you. Besides lots of motorcycle jumping and car screeching pay particular attention to such amazing exploits as X using a silver tray to skateboard on hand rails and X snowboarding in front of an avalanche while having bad guys after him.

Full of tacky and cheesy dialogue that once in a while provides some funny one-liners, this film is all about the action and not about the weak script or the one-dimensional characters. You also get the expected heavy metal music that is mostly just annoying because it has been overused so many times in these types of movies.

Vin Diesel definitely has the goods to play the tough leading man and fits his role nicely helped by the film being tailored made for him and with no difficult acting required.

Director Rob Cohen is one of the best action directors these days especially when it comes to giving you a thrill ride with chase and stunt sequences.

There is lots of gunplay but not that much martial arts or hand-to-hand combat. The big finale has no big hand-to-hand combat fight between X and Yorgi rather more X against Yorgi’s rocket launching watercraft.

XXX is an exhilarating ride if you don’t pay attention to the ridiculous story line and silly acting that seem just filler material between some amazing and expensive combination of stunts and special effects.

I give XXX 3.7 stars and if you take away the action it reaches all the way 0.7

Gil Benzeevi

For years those who participated in Xtreme sports were often viewed as social misfits and outcasts who lacked direction in their lives by large portions of society. While many could appreciate the stunts and daring, most lumped participants into the same category as MTV's "Jackass" and disregarded those who seek to take sports to the next level. All that may well change with the release of the new Vin Diesel action fest "XXX". Diesel stars as Xander (XXX) Cage, a tattooed thrill seeker, who is the star of a very popular and illegal web and video show where he engages in all manner of stunts usually at the expense of a local politician. One such victim ends up having his sports car driven over a cliff for the world to see while Cage parachutes to safety. While Cage parties it up with all manner of well-wishers who want to either idolize, sleep with, make a buck from, or be him, a government agent named Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) has an idea to recruit Cage for a mission. Gibbons figures that since traditional agents keep getting spotted and killed while trying to infiltrate an Eastern European ring of thugs who may be preparing to use biological weapons, then perhaps a misfit who can take care of himself might be their best bet, as he explains to his superiors that Xander and his like are disposable commodities.

Before long, Cage is recruited against his will and forced to travel to Prague in order to undertake his mission. Due to his notoriety he is able to infiltrate the group headed by Yorgi (Marton Csokas) and the sexy but mysterious Yelena (Asia Argento), and is able to start to unravel the method and motivates behind an evil plot that threatens the world. Sound familiar, well in many was the film is James Bond for the X-Games crowd, as tattoos, metal music, and wild stunts are what this films all about. The plot, characters and acting are very basic as the emphasis is on the stunt work and there is plenty of that. Some of it is fantastic while others seem like a drawn out clinic on how to stage a stunt, as multiple angles, slow motion shots and shots of stunt people who bear little resemblance to the actors they are filling in for permeate the film. One such sequence in a drug factory was well staged but was drawn out far to long to be effective, and I could almost see the explosive charges being set off in sequence. That being said, the film does pack some good shots and Diesel is good in the bad guy with a hear role that he first perfected in "Pitch Black" While not an epic it is a fun way to spend a couple of hours and from the looks of the films ending we will be seeing plenty more of XXX in the future.

3 stars out of 5

Gareth Von Kallenbach

There are 2 kinds of people in the world today: those who like Vin Diesel, and those who don't, needless to say it's the former of the aforementioned groups that'll dig Triple X the most. Everyone else would be well advised to steer clear of Rob Cohen's ('The Fast And The Furious') stunt-a-second spy thriller, which sees Vin as an extreme-sports anarchist whose coerced into becoming a government spy and shutting down another, more deadly, anarchist ring in Czechoslovakia (and yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds).

The audience reaction to 'XXX' reminded me of the time when 'Deep Blue Sea' was playing back in 99: the majority of reviews savaged Renny Halrin's shark-attack thriller, but despite the critical mauling, people were lapping it up night after night: clapping, cheering, jumping miles out of their seat when Samuel L. Jackson gets eaten by a GM shark, in other words: PEOPLE HAD A GOOD TIME, and why not?

I mean 'XXX' is a buncha nonsense: But remember that thing about the world being divided up into 2 groups? Well I'm definitely in the first group there: I reckon Vin Diesel's a super-cool bloke, granted, he's not the best actor in the world, nor should he be made to 'smile' or 'shout' (two things he does here). But the man has some made some pretty cool movies in his seven-year acting career: 'Pitch Black' was one of the most enjoyable sci-fi films in years, 'Multi-Facial' a wry satire on racial discrimination whilst 'The Fast And The Furious' is also a guilty pleasure…in fact no, fuck it, it's a top movie: no guilt necessary folks.

The only point of contention being that those who like their actors… well; 'unleaded' needn't apply, but just to make it clear to you guys that me being a Vin Diesel fan doesn't mean that I'll overlook the movie's flaws, here's a quick rundown of everything that's wrong about 'XXX': a pedestrian script (I mean, at least 'The Fast And The Furious' had a catchphrase), B-style plot dynamics and a dumbass storyline…Now here's everything that's cool about it: Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson, Asia Agento (a.k.a. hot Italian babe, who, incidentally, is also a pretty good director) mad stunts and err…mad stunts.

In all honesty; this is probably the weakest of all The Man's recent projects, but 'XXX' still cuts the mustard as a shamelessly entertaining movie that aims to please and, for the most part; does.

On the basis of this movie, I'd have to say that my favourite kind of Vin Diesel performances are the ones where he's cast as an early Eastwood-esque anti-hero (i.e. a film where he doesn't have to lark about or shout as much). For though 'XXX' is a good end-of-the-summer actioner, I know it'll be better value on DVD; for in spite of all its kick-ass exuberance and sass, its kinda like buying a comic book and just looking at the pictures: good fun while it lasts, but probably not worth queuing up for, Buy the DVD, and see it before they make a sequel.

Good fun, but needed a much better script: 8/10 (take a point off if you're not a Vin Diesel fan!)

Kashif Ahmed

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