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XXX (Superbit Collection) Customer Reviews (67 - 69 of 79 Reviews)

"xXx" the review and why I loved it
Let me first tell ya why I loved this movie. I really enjoy Vin's other movies. I liked him in "The Iron Giant" (HE WAS THE ROBOT!!), "Pitch Black" (supposed to be filming the sequel right now), "The Fast and the Furious" (must I explain?!?) and his dramatic role in "Boiler Room" totally made him an actor to watch. I enjoyed his really sharp witted, sarcastic humor. This is a movie that I will be owning on the day it comes out on DVD (hopefully a 2-disc DVD is in the works with 5.1 EX surround and hours of bonus footage). There's enough action to make any Arnold fan happy, but guess what, VIN IS WAY BETTER! Now for my short review:

Xander "xXx" Cage is a daring, extreme athlete who is chosen by the NSA to go to Russia and find out information about some people. But what he finds out is very dangerous.

I also loved Asia Argento's (she needs to be in more American movies, she is already a hit in her native Italy) performance in this movie. She added a kinda Lara Croft-type girl presence to the movie. I wish there was a PlayStation 2 game in the works so I could play every single moment of this exciting movie. But for now we have to play a GameBoy Advance game, which I'm sure is okay. This is a great movie none the less. The soundtrack is great (look out for an appearance by Rammstein in the beginning, plus look out for Tony Hawk) check this movie out!

Perfectly respectable spy movie
When I saw this movie I couldn't help but compare it to James Bond movies. Since Bond has pretty much set the stage for all spy movies, I wondered how this movie would stack up. Overall, I was impressed; Vin Diesel may be the secret agent for people ages 15-30 or so.

The movie has all the necessary things you'd come to expect from a spy film: at least one special agent, at least one beautiful chick, fast cars, explosions, lots of gadgets, and a villan bent on taking over the world. While these things are pretty much standard issue in the spy film genre, they also weaken the movie a little.

The action sequences are really what keeps the movie going. Xander Cage (Diesel) fits the role of an extreme sports athlete, and the opening sequence really sets the stage for the things he's willing to do. Everything is a trick to him, from the opening scene involving someone else's car and a bridge, to jumping out of an airplane and snowboarding down in front of an avalanche. These tricks move the storyline along better than dialog would do. Cage is an action man, not a man of words.

The plot of the movie is what makes me give the movie 4 stars. It's one of your typical spy movie plots. In this case the special agent isn't smooth and refined, instead of ordering martinis and talking about intellectual things, he drinks cranberry juice and tells people to "stop thinking cop, start thinking Playstation and blow stuff up." He shoots people with tranquilizer darts instead of bullets. However, this is the primary difference between this spy movie and most spy movie. There's still the beautiful woman caught up in all the trouble who falls for the agent, lots of nifty gadgets, and the evil villain. In this case the evil villain is a defector of the Russian army who heads a group that wants world anarchy.

Overall, the movie is good, it's a nice change from the suave suit and tie agent we're accustomed to. While the idea of an unlikely secret agent isn't new, people ages 15-30 can relate better to a guy with tattoos who hangs out with professional skaters and goes to clubs better than they can relate to a man who goes everywhere in a suit, drinks vodka martinis and seduces women without a second thought. I really shouldn't compare this movie to the Bond ones, it stands on it's own as a respectable spy movie.

Vin Diesel, savior of mindless action (good thing, for now).
I didn't much care for The Fast and the Furious, but Vin Diesel's (and director Rob Cohen) follow-up film, XXX, is a blast. How much you enjoy the movie depends on how willing you are to stick with a Bond rip-off. Virtually everything about the movie is Bond-inspired; we have characters similar to M and Q, the maniacal villain, the sexy love interest, and the requisite battle between two opposing armies in the villain's fortress. If this all sounds like fun, then give the movie a shot. Otherwise, you've been warned.

Diesel stars as Xander Cage, a social rebel who's apprehended by a scar-faced government agent named Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson). He makes a deal with Cage: pose undercover for him in Europe and all his debts to society are paid. With no other options, Cage agrees, becoming a secret agent out to stop an anarchic group headed by an extremist named Yorgi (Martin Csoka), who has plan to create worldwide chaos. Along for the ride is Yelena (Asia Argento), Yorgi's thoroughly unhappy girlfriend looking for a way out. You can bet it'll take major firepower for that to happen.

As far as Bond-inspired formulas go, XXX is only slightly less enjoyable than the underrated Mission: Impossible II, and with the exception of The World is Not Enough, it's better than every Bond film dating back to For Your Eyes Only. And it's funny I should say that because I was ready to bash the movie after the first hour, which is fairly weak and slow moving.

What's wrong with the first half, you might ask? That problem would be talk. There's too much expository dialogue and most of the details surrounding the villain's nefarious plan are completely unengaging. There's also the painful sense of "PG-13ifictation", what with the lack of profanity and nudity (not that it's needed, but a lot of it feels catered to teens). The big motorcycle chase through the Columbian drug field is bogged down by too much slow motion, and the Bond-inspired score is pretty lame (though it might grow on me over the years, depending on how successful the franchise is). The only genuinely fun segment in the first hour is the coffee diner scene, a nice little "test" that's cleverly executed and hilarious.

So it's not until the second half XXX really takes off. There's spectacular action and stunts galore; we get chases, fisticuffs, and gun battles, all of them slickly executed and exciting to watch. But the two best setpieces are saved for last; this includes the avalanche scene, a completely implausible but nonetheless exhilarating sequence that's convincing on a visual level. Best and most thrilling of all the action is the final chase, with Diesel and Argento on a souped-up car going after a doomsday device on the water. Kudos must go to Rob Cohen, who knows how to deliver the thrills without resorting to quick-cuts and MTV-style editing, a problem that's managed to affect even high-gloss Oscar bait like Gangs of New York.

Even with all the action, what makes the movie appealing is Vin Diesel's presence. With past action stars fading, he's taking up the reins, and while he's not quite as charismatic an action hero as Jason Statham (from The Transporter), he's every bit as cool. Asia Argento's role is sort of a throwaway, but she makes the most of it and she and Diesel share enough chemistry to make for a likeable pair. I hear both actors are coming back for the sequel, as well as Jackson, and I for one am looking forward to it.

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