Product: xXx (2002)
Rating: 3.0
xXx One-Ups Bond This Year
2002 saw the release of a new James Bond movie that was the best Bond movie in years. However, surprisingly Die Another Day was not the best secret agent film of 2002. That honor goes to xXx. Vin Diesel stars as Xander Cage, an underground daredevil recruited by Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), a National Security Agency administrator, to infiltrate a European terrorist ring. All the conventional James Bond-type secret agents have failed in their attempts to carry out this mission so the unconventional Xander is the next men thrown into the fire in a move that some say is desperate, but which Gibbons says is inspired. Xander of course does not warm up to the idea but comes around when faced with the prospect of spending his time in prison instead. What follows is a series of gunfights, car chases, and audacious stunt pieces all with an "extreme sports" slant. For all intents and purposes, this mishmash of a movie shouldn't work, but work it does. Director Rob Cohen doesn't always stage the action effectively but Vin Diesel elevates the film by infusing the right amount of detachment and irrelevance into his character. Xander is not the self-assured secret agent that Bond is, but rather a fish out of water who can't help but admit that he's over his head at times. It is this degree of vulnerability that makes xXx a much more interesting film than the James Bond films. Bond long ago turned into an indestructable superman who couldn't be bothered with even a wrinkle in his tuxedo. Xander is a real person who is placed within an atypical situation and acts accordingly in response to it. It's true that Xander does not possess the refinement or suaveness of Bond, but if you want a secret agent with more of a mean streak then xXx is the man for you.