Product: xXx [VHS] (2002)
Rating: 4.0
Surprisingly entertaining
Well, it's not James Bond, it's more like James Bond meets Xtreme sports, X-Gener. You've got the secret agent Xander (Van Diesel), the M equivalent in Samuel L. Jackson, a cranky gadget geek, a very evil man out to destroy civilization as we know it, a love interest, but I couldn't find the equivalent of Miss Moneypenny. Instead of a Euro sportscar like a Astin or a BMW, Xander settles for a GTO (fully equipped, if you know what I mean!) Unlike Bond, Xander is, at least at first, a reluctant hero. But he seems to get over that quickly and takes the whole gig as just another Xtreme sports ride.It also has enough over the top stunts to make stunt coordinators on future releases wonder how they're going to top this.Yes, this movie blatantly rips off the style and elements of the James Bond genre, but it infuses it with its own character and the result is surprisingly good. Hey, I'll watch a sequel.