Product: xXx [VHS] (2002)
Rating: 2.0
Sorry, Vin -- I Still Love You!
A little bit into this movie I was thinking: Okay, the problem is either that Vin was on some sort of tranquilizer during this movie, or Samuel L. Jackson is just such a good actor that anyone else on screen pales in comparison. In the end I decided both things were operating here.Yet, once Vin woke up and started to get into the spy stuff, I perked up a bit. He came off pretty convincingly as a guy who wants to be James Bond but can't quite pull it off, i.e., the scene at lunch where Argento's cahracter ridicules the idea that he could be a spy. Funny stuff, and Vin looked honestly hurt, like a little kid who thought he was more of a grown-up than he is.The rest is pretty silly, although the Russian bad guy is fairly interesting. As for Argento -- I guess the theme at that time was Euro-Trash who looks like she's coming down off a bad heroin fix. She's not even pretty, let alone a real actress. Leave her in Prague, Vin!Toward the end Vin does have some good moments when he realizes that it's up to him to save the world and he gets this look on his face that clearly illustrates the enormity of the task and his self-doubt that he can pull it off. Don't get this movie because you like Bond or want a good story. Get it because you have a couple of hours to kill and you're in the mood to let your disbelief go on vacation to a Slavic country, or, like me, you would pay $ to watch Vin Diesel shave for two hours.