Viewers of XXX will feel that of someone
who’s drowning, just less dramatically. In the heavy
action scenes they’ll be able to grab a breath of air
from the world above, but in the torturous scenes full
of lame dialogue, they will not be able to breathe,
trapped without any site of land. The war is in full
fledge; will they stay alive or not? In this case,
XXX puts up a good fight but doesn’t succeed. The
movie is worth watching for the fun action bites that
occur every so offend, but during the scenes that are
flat, you feel like your strangling; with absolutely no
one to turn to.
XXX is about a
criminal named Xander Cage who is the typical James
Bond, just on the antagonistic side of things. He
chooses not to obey the law, hence he is looking at
three strikes for grand theft auto, reckless
endangerment, and a “little bridge stunt” of his. Xander
is a bad man, covered in tattoos and would’ve probably
spent a good thirty years out of lifetime in a cell,
locked away; that is if it weren’t for Gibbons, Agent
Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), who offers him an
undercover job in Prague “to pay back Uncle Sam for all
the freedom he’s enjoyed”. The purpose of the job is
classified, all Gibbons tells “X” is he must find out
information about the underground, people like him. In
return, all of his criminal charges will be erased. When
he puts his mind to it, “X” turns out to be one of the
best secret agents ever used, but the plot takes a
dramatic turn when his cover is blown. Agent Gibbons
orders him to travel home, but does he? He’s a criminal;
he isn’t supposed to listen to law enforcement!
I did like Vin Diesel. He did
exactly what he was supposed to do, and fit the
characters stereotypical personality perfectly. Sadly,
his characters stereotypical personality was nothing
short of a bland grain of flour. His one-liners worked,
in a lame way, though most of them were spoiled in the
first two trailers almost everyone has seen at some
point in their life. It’s hard to pinpoint a position on
his overall performance; I liked it, he followed what
screenwriters wanted him to do, yet when I watched
Xander Cage on-screen it wasn’t magical enough. I wanted
more of the splice-and-dice action scenes that are one
of the movies only good qualities.
One of the things that helped
saved this movie from an incredibly low rating from me
was the exaggeration used in the sets. If they hadn’t
used elements so farfetched, so unbelievable in the
story, the film wouldn’t have been as fun to watch. Even
though the characters were incredibly dry, I must
compliment the screenwriters for their innovative stunt
ideas that truly made XXX have a hands-on feel,
like you could bend and mold the characters for the
better. Although far from The Road to Perdition,
this movie would be great told in the form of a graphic
novel; simply because the story can be just as in-depth
and easily told through pictures.
Even though average in most
areas of the map, XXX is still worth a trip.
The exciting and exuberant action is enough to fulfill
the average movie-going needs. If you don’t analyze the
plot extremely thoroughly, and are able to sit back,
relax and enjoy the thrilling action in this film, you
will love it! But if you look at the stunts it contains
as mindless and unbelievable nonsense, you will not.
Turn off your brain for two hours and ten minutes and
absorb XXX to the fullest; with the right kind
of mindset you will be prepared for an extremely fun
roller-coaster ride.
-Danny, Bucket Reviews