Product: xXx [VHS] (2002)
Rating: 2.0
The Xander Zone
There is something inexplicably excellent about the blantant mediocrity of XXX. It kind of makes me proud to be an American. Nowhere else could a film like this get made, and then have everyone go see it. I mean this film is ABSURD! I bet they call the sequal "XXX 2: Hardcore." In any case...Vin Diesel is Xander Cage, a thrill seeking, extreme sports exhibitionist, with a political agenda. Samuel L. Jackson comes out of nowhere to recruit him for a secret mission because none of the N.S.A's guys are capable of pulling off the discrete assignment of flying through the air on motorcycles, out running avalanches, and delivering essential one-line banter with criminals. Of course, Cage accepts because his life will finally have a purpose. Actually, the mission is just an excuse for Vin to pull off the aforementioned action sequences.Now I'm all for throwing reality out the window when it comes to action flicks just as much as the next guy, but seriously, shouldn't there be a line drawn somewhere? Apparently the filmmakers of XXX thought no. So, I got a kick out of XXX, it's terrible, but it delivers the cheap thrill it promises and you have to respect that (I guess). Only in America.