XXX (2002) Synopsis:
Xander "XXX" Cage is a notorious underground thrill seeker who, until now, has been deemed untouchable by the law. NSA Agent Gibbons forces XXX to cooperate with the government to infiltrate an underground Russian crime ring to avoid going to prison. Betting XXX can succeed where other conventional spies have failed, Gibbons sends XXX to enter this world of crime undetected, using his natural athletic prowess and a whole lot of attitude. Enlisted for a dangerous covert mission, he must combat a clever, organized and ruthless crime enemy far beyond the scope of his experience.
XXX (2002) 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.
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XXX (2002) review written by: Gil Benzeevi
11th October, 2008 
