xXx: Return of Xander Cage

xXx: Return of Xander Cage

Starring Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Toni Collette

Directed by D.J. Caruso

The Story:
Years after faking his death to escape the xXx program, Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) is brought out of retirement by Jane Marke (Toni Collette), who enlists him to stop a gang of highly crafty individuals led by Xiang (Donnie Yen), who stole some technology known as Pandora's Box that can bring satellites crashing to Earth in specific places like trained warheads.

Cage enlists a gang of highly intelligent, resourceful and absolutely insane people to track Xiang and his gang down and retrieve the Box, but learn that there's much more than what they were being told, and the lines between good and evil become drastically blurred.

The Synopsis:
Vin Diesel is nearing fifty, but you would never guess that by seeing his films.  He's still as ripped, strong and muscular than ever, and his bread and butter is starring in franchise series that require a lot of action, but little story.  That's what makes "The Fast and the Furious" such a fantastic franchise - it knows its over the top, it knows it doesn't relay much in the way of intellectual dialogue, but they're still extremely fun movies because of its insane, utterly implausible action.

Much like "The Fast and the Furious," Diesel introduced the world to Xander Cage in the first "xXx" movie only to abandon it for the subsequent sequel (as he did with "The Fast and the Furious").  Thankfully, not only did he return for the subsequent "F&F" series, but has now returned to the "xXx" series as well, and even though there won't be any awards given for fantastic script-writing, it's still a thoroughally enjoyable thrill ride, if not just for its guilty pleasures.

Also returning to the franchise is the ever erratic Samuel L. Jackson who, in the trailer, easily gives me the way to really critique this movie: "kick some ass, get the girl, and try to look dope while you're doing it."  Let's look at each of his three points to see if Xander Cage really accomplishes this:

"Kick some ass" - yes, there is a lot of ass kicking to go around.  Not only does Diesel get into the fray with some totally outrageous stunts, but so does pretty much everyone else in the movie.  Be it the fantastic scene featuring Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone and "Orange is the New Black" star Ruby Rose fighting a literal army side by side, or insane Rory McCann flipping an entire van over to stop some criminals, or the hilariously inept Becky Clearidge (played to humorous perfection by Nina Dobrev) accidentally killing some bad guys, lots of butts end up on the floor.  However, the main star of this is action hero Donnie Yen, who uses his natural martial arts abilities to take down men twice his size that's pure poetry in motion.  He's this generation's Jet Li, and between being here and in "Rogue One" he's definitely someone I'd love to see in more movies.

"Get the girl" - again, Diesel fully succeeds in getting the girl...or girls as the case may be, but what I appreciate here is that the female persuasion is used for much more than just mere eye candy.  As stated earlier, Deepika Padukone absolutely killed in her performance, serving as a top-notch action heroine you'd definitely want on your side.  Same goes with Ruby Rose, who is a skilled, trained sniper who can cap a man through a window as small as the opening between two fingers.  As the xXx program's new leader, Toni Collette also is a force to be reckoned with, if not just for her biting, sarcastic tone.  The women in this movie are given much more to work with than just their natural beauty, and these ain't no damsels in distress.

"Try to look dope while you're doing it" - what was the most impressive aspect of "xXx" is the utterly outlandish effects they used.  Vin Diesel skiing down a radio tower.  Vin Diesel leaping out of an exploding airplane thousands of miles in the air.  Vin Diesel and Donnie Yen skiing over the water on motorcycles.  Vin Diesel and Donnie Yen fighting on a car-riddled street.  Those are just some of the totally insane stunts and effects in the film, and they do cause all the characters to look totally dope in what they're doing.  Plus you can tell that everyone was having an absolute blast in making the film, and that adds a whole new dimension to how much you enjoy watching it.

So, if you're judging the film according to Samuel L. Jackson's critique, it was a hit.  While I tend to agree, it's still nowhere near as great as other films I've seen recently, but it's far from the worst.

The Summary:
While there's no Oscar awards being given out for its story, "xXx: Return of Xander Cage" is a guilty pleasure that's pleasing to the eyes and adrenaline, and offers an adequate escape into the world of the utterly insane.

The Score: B+