XXX - Triple X Movie Review
When the NSA takes in an action sports fanatic, he is given a choice; work as a government agent or be sent back to jail. Cohen’s action blockbuster shines a refreshing new light on this genre but suffers from a lot of problems.
Genre: Action/Comedy/Thriller
Director: Rob Cohen
Cast: Vin Diesel, Asia Argento, Samuel L. Jackson, Marton Csokas, Werner Daehn, Petr Jákl, Richy Müller, Michael Roof, Jan Pavel Filipensky, Martina Smuková, Danny Trejo, Eve & Tony Hawk.
Run Time: 124 min.
US Release: 09 August 2002
UK Release: 17 October 2002
German Release: 17 October 2002
With the third Triple X blockbuster being just one day away from official release, I decided to review the first flick of the trilogy, which incidentally is one of my biggest guilty pleasures. After the success of The Fast and the Furious, director Rob Cohen and Vin Diesel were brought into this project to create another adrenaline-pumped action film but this time, instead of a police officer turning into an outlaw we obtain an outlaw embracing his new role as an American secret agent. xXx is nothing special; it has some fun stunts and action sequences, a couple of cheesy one-liners, and a beautiful setting in the Czech city of Prague, yet it manages to entertain most of its audience.
This action picture was developed at exactly the right time; during the epitome of an extreme sports-hyped era that spawned films like Extreme Ops, Vertical Limit, and of course The Fast and the Furious. The last one tells the tale of a close group of friends, who street race at night and performed near-impossible stunts with their vehicles. With Triple X, Sony basically reinvented the James Bond formula, by replacing the slick British MI-6 agent with a foul-mouthed American extreme sportsman, who wears tattoos and lots of leather, as well as sporting a shaved head.
— WARNING, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! —
When the Czech terrorist group Anarchy 99 kills an NSA spy in the midst of a Rammstein concert, agent Augustus Gibbons (Jackson) reveals his secret agenda; to send their own criminal into the pit and bring down the mercenaries. Xander Cage (Diesel), an extreme sports star and criminal vandal is caught by the NSA and put under several stress tests with others, to determine which of them is able to handle a dangerous situation the best way possible. He passes all the tests and is sent to Prague, where he is supposed to infiltrate Anarchy 99.
Once welcomed by their leader Yorgi (Csokas), Xander meets his girlfriend Yelena (Argento) and starts falling in love with her. Xander is soon forced to reveal his identity to her and promises her sanctuary in the US if she helps him get deeper into their terrorist organisation, while mean Yorgi figures out who Cage is and sends off his right-hand man Kirill (Daehn) to kill him.
Triple X offers a completely new and fresh look of the spy genre. While we had parodies of Bond flicks before, none of them broke down the recipe of that category as efficient as this film, which also enhances its three attributes: bad guys, women and action. It especially manages to concentrate on the action part, by taking the typical well-mannered spy and replacing him with a tough x-treme sports expert who uses his knowledge to save the day. That said, xXx is not a good movie. It is pure and simple mindless action entertainment with over exaggerated stunts, cheesy one-liners and a far-fetched story that at times makes no sense. Yet it manages to balance these ridiculous moments well, with fun and gripping action.
My favourite part of the plot is the idea of blackmailing brute criminals and sending them off as expansible operatives to finish the jobs that normal agents can’t. Seeing it recently again to write this review, I noticed a lot of parallels to the Suicide Squad comic book storyline. The narrative, though, is full of plot-holes, with one of the biggest that I can’t comprehend yet, being why Gibbons chooses to use Cage, who is a simple extreme sports artist with a rebel attitude but not a killer. Also, the dialogue delivery is at times really messy.
Vin Diesel has the perfect physical stature to play a persona as Xander Cage; he is also very charismatic as the rebel agent. I have, however, problems at times with his lines and the way he delivered them, as some were truly cringe-worthy. He has impeccable chemistry with his co-star Asia Argento nonetheless, who portrays the undercover Russian spy Yelena. Argento is a European multi-talent, but just as everyone in this film, her character isn’t given any depth. Yet, she manages to bring some mystery to her persona through her body language and appearance on screen.
Marton Csokas was cast as Yorgi, head of the terrorist group Anarchy 99 but as a villain he is somewhat underwhelming, even though he tries to play the terrorist leader very pompous. Until this day, I can’t really understand the groups motivation to kill every major city in the world with nerve gas, though, the outgoing idea that the governing bodies would turn against each other is an original thought. Samuel L. Jackson is Augustus Gibbons, Cage’s NSA handler and contact person. Just as with Vin Diesel, Jackson’s line delivery was at times terrible. He also plays his character a little over-the-top.
The cinematography of this movie is mediocre, containing a few well-shot segments but most of the stunts and action scenes suffer from cutting every few seconds to different camera angles. It does contain good choreographed action, though, and I was impressed by some of the effects, such as the opening scene were part of a Rammstein concert is implemented into the movie. That segment still holds up today. Then again, it also contained sequences that had exploding vehicles without a reason and full frontal shots of stunts, where you could make out the stuntman’s face.
Verdict: xXx - Triple X isn’t exactly a theatre gem and the story was extremely shallow and had little artistic value, yet it managed to entertain the hell out of me and a lot of other people back in the day. Even though this blockbuster succeeds to shine a new light on the spy genre with its over-the-top stunts and action sequences, it also contains bad dialogue that is delivered poorly by its cast. Vin Diesel and Asia Argento have good chemistry but feel very one-dimensional and superficial. Samuel L. Jackson just seems to be in this for the paycheck and Marton Csokas plays the villain a little bit too underwhelming, without really exploring his motivations. The cinematography is alright but nothing out of the ordinary, and I have especially an issue with how the action stunts were cut. Overall, this action spectacle does exactly that what it was meant to do, and that is to entertain. I will give it a 6.0 out of 10.
Thank you for reading my review of xXx, leave a message below and let me know you thought of the bald and
tattooed American agent. Don't forget to keep an eye out for my xXx 3 review this weekend.