Review: xXx (2002)

Director: Rob Cohen | 124 minutes | action, adventure, thriller | Actors: Vin Diesel, Asia Argento, Marton Csokas, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Roof, Tom Everett, Eve, Danny Trejo, Richy Müller

The US security service is trying to infiltrate an extremist criminal organization called Anarchy 99 in Prague (Czech Republic). However, the secret agents sent to Prague are unmasked and murdered one by one. The Security Service, in the person of Dr. Gibbons (played by Samuel L. Jackson), has devised a new strategy to send a criminal now, completely against principles and procedures. He will not be prosecuted to make it attractive to the criminal. After a spectacular selection procedure, xXx (Triple X), played by Vin Diesel, remains as the best candidate. It will come as no surprise that xXx, whose real name in the movie is Xander Cage, succeeds in infiltrating. He gets help from the mysterious beauty Yelena (played by Asia Argento, the daughter of horror director Dario Argento). Ultimately, they battle Anarchy 99 together.

The script has copied all elements of a James Bond film without any scruple and put it in a slightly different guise. Here too the battle between East and West is central, in which East is traditionally represented by the villain and the United States plays the bravery. A mysterious beauty who plays the villain’s girlfriend, but turns out to be on the side of the hero. 007 has made a name for himself with his stiff, stiff, typically British humor and attitude. xXx keeps it a bit smoother and packs it in a rough shell with a blank pit version. A secret agent without technical gadgets does not exist and they are not lacking in this film. If James Bond is still stylish, Xander Cage can be called stylish according to the old rules of the game. He rumbles like an elephant through the porcelain cabinet, which serves as the manual for a classic secret agent.

With this approach, the youthful viewers should get excited. James Bond mainly appeals to the imagination of the somewhat older audience. And the makers clearly wanted to tap into a new market among film audiences. It is doubtful whether they succeeded. Of course there are spectacular stunts in the film and the modern outfit of our secret agent will contribute to it, but in time this film will lose its right to exist. In contrast, James Bond, however dated, will always remain with the public.

The cast with the rising star Vin Diesel (The Fast and the Furious) delivers an acceptable acting performance given the script. The film does not have character developments and a deeply elaborated plot, so the actors do not need to have any qualities in that area. Why Samuel L. Jackson lent himself for this movie will probably be based solely on financial grounds. He will not have found a challenge in the character he has to play. At most, his name on the poster will attract extra audience to the film.

Is it a bad movie then? Not in itself, it just depends on what you expect. If you are going for a relaxing action movie with a touch of very accessible humor, you will not attack a bump here. If you want more than cheap relaxation, you better ignore this film.