xXx
Starring:
Vin Diesel, Asia Argento, Marton Csokas and Samuel L. Jackson
Director: Rob Cohen
Running Time: 123 mins
Certificate: 12A
Available to buy on DVD 10th March
With the traditional approach to espionage continually failing, NSA agent Augustus Gibbons (Jackson) suggests a more unorthodox type of secret agent. Step forward extreme sports star Xander Cage (Diesel), the ideal candidate to infiltrate Czech based terrorist group Anarchy 99. The only thing is that Xander doesn't know it yet.
From the writer and director of the 2001 hit The Fast and the Furious comes a new breed of hero, or so the advertising would have you believe.
xXx (pronounced triple X) is basically Hollywood's attempt to modernise the spy movie genre by giving the agent a more street-wise persona and in some ways it works. By removing the sophistication and class distinction that you associate with the Bond franchise, xXx brings an element of the common man to the secret service. You could never imagine Bond walking into a Prague thrash metal club and blending in, as the filmmakers point out in the opening sequence.
The things that make a spy movie great remain however, such as the gadgets, the girls, the madman intent on destroying the world and of course, bucket loads of action. This is where xXx excels as most of the set sequences are breathtakingly over the top. The avalanche chase is worth the price of the ticket alone.
What you don't get with this movie is any kind of meaningful plot or dialogue. In fact some of the one-liners are totally cringe worthy but this is not a movie made to win screen-writing awards. The plot just serves as the filler between the action.
Hollywood has gambled a lot on Vin Diesel becoming the next big action star. He does handle the physical side of his role extremely well but whether it was the script's fault or not, Diesel seems to struggle with the more bread and butter side of the acting business by never convincingly delivering most of his lines.
Most of you won't care about this anyway, as you shouldn't, as this is an action movie after all, not a life-changing piece of cinema. With its tongue planted firmly in its cheek, xXx brings what is cool about extreme sports to a genre that really needed a fresh spark.
So if you enjoy snowboarding, skateboarding, base-jumping, sky surfing, motor cross and free-fall parachuting, this is the movie that you have been waiting for.
Director Rob Cohen
Commentary
DVD ROM: NSA Headquarters Hack
9 Deleted Scenes
Documentary "A Filmmaker's Dairy "
Building Speed: "The Vehicles of xXx"
Designing the world of xXx
Diesel Powered (Vin Diesel profile)
Visual effects How to's: Avalanche, Exploding bike jump, Exploding hut &
Head Removal
2 x Multi-angle
Gavin Rossdale "Adrenaline" Music Video
Story Board Comparisons: Snowboarding and Drug Farm
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