This starts with a man wearing a tux getting killed by some Slavic gangsters at a Nu-Metal gig . It's never mentioned on screen but the implication is that the dead man is Bond, James Bond and throughout the movie where treated to an alternative universe where the world is no longer saved by sophisticated suave secret agents but saved by a loud crass extreme sports loving American
Did I use the word " treated " in the above paragraph ? Maybe that's too much of a strong word because XXX isn't much of a treat . Okay I disagree with many of the people claiming this was the worst movie of 2002 but Rob Cohen is a very shallow director while Vin Diesel is a laughably bad actor who makes Sylvester Stallone look like Anthony Hopkins in comparison . What compounds this problem is the amount of homage the movie pays to the Bond series . Isn't this movie trying to do away with Bond ? So why does Xander Cage borrow lines like " The things I do for my country " which sounds a lot like " The things I do for England " from YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE . all throughout the movie we're treated ( Again that's maybe not the right word ) to little nods and winks to Fleming's superhero which makes the movie end up being a 21st century homage to JB and I doubt if this was the original intension . The story structure mirrors that of the franchise of cramming in several different locations because it seemed like a good idea at the time , so much so you find yourself forgetting what the original plot was , there's a femme fatale and the bad guy wants to start effectively world war three . Seen it all before
XXX is dumb , loud and spectacular when it needed some wit and a better leading man . If your only requirement in a movie is stunts and explosions you'll no doubt enjoy it but I do prefer substance in a movie
Did I use the word " treated " in the above paragraph ? Maybe that's too much of a strong word because XXX isn't much of a treat . Okay I disagree with many of the people claiming this was the worst movie of 2002 but Rob Cohen is a very shallow director while Vin Diesel is a laughably bad actor who makes Sylvester Stallone look like Anthony Hopkins in comparison . What compounds this problem is the amount of homage the movie pays to the Bond series . Isn't this movie trying to do away with Bond ? So why does Xander Cage borrow lines like " The things I do for my country " which sounds a lot like " The things I do for England " from YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE . all throughout the movie we're treated ( Again that's maybe not the right word ) to little nods and winks to Fleming's superhero which makes the movie end up being a 21st century homage to JB and I doubt if this was the original intension . The story structure mirrors that of the franchise of cramming in several different locations because it seemed like a good idea at the time , so much so you find yourself forgetting what the original plot was , there's a femme fatale and the bad guy wants to start effectively world war three . Seen it all before
XXX is dumb , loud and spectacular when it needed some wit and a better leading man . If your only requirement in a movie is stunts and explosions you'll no doubt enjoy it but I do prefer substance in a movie