I got some good news and bad news...
The good news first ... XXX - The Next Level has it all: Fast cars, gorgeous babes, blazing buildings, runaway trains, seductive vamps and a radical Defence Secretary who wants to overthrow the US Government.
The bad news? It also has clichéd dialogues, unbelievable fight sequences and a sloppy storyline that threatens to nullify all the positive aspects of the movie.
Samuel L Jackson plays Augustus Gibbons, the survivor of an attack on the National Security Agency's top-secret headquarters, and a top propagandist of truth, justice and the American way (yeesh!).
And Ice Cube is Darius Stone, Gibbons' only chance at stopping Secretary of Defence George Decket (Willem Dafoe) from overthrowing the US government and taking over the country.
The other two characters on the scene are FBI agent Kyle Steele (Scott Speedman), who considers Stone a dangerous criminal, and Lola (Nona Gaye), a former flame (Ice Cube's) who owns a high-end car dealership.
The movie's ending is a predictable no-brainer; and sadly, so is the entire movie. A pity, considering that it features quite a few top-notch actors. Peter Strauss plays the hip American President, complete with a vocabulary pulsing with f-words and 2pac lines. And he does a good job, considering he does not have much of a job to do, anyway.
Ice Cube plays Spidey - jumping from tall buildings, thumping characterless baddies and romancing the gals, all the while yapping in a heavy ghetto accent. His stunts are hardly anything to crow about, unless your idea of entertainment is watching tubby rappers jump from skyscraper to skyscraper. Makes you wish he had stuck to fighting with big rubber anacondas instead...
The fight sequences are, simply put, indigestible. And you would have to take them with more than just a pinch of salt to get that bad taste off your mouth. But then comes the silver lining - Willem Dafoe. He excels in his role of the cold, calculating foreign secretary, just waiting for his chance to grab the juicy morsel. However, you wonder how someone who had acted in good movies like Platoon and The English Patient could stoop to performing in a mediocre silver screen hide n' seek game.
But make no mistake ... XXX - The Next Level, with all its clichéd dialogues and corny jokes, could prove to be an entertainer - provided you leave your brain at home.
The good news first ... XXX - The Next Level has it all: Fast cars, gorgeous babes, blazing buildings, runaway trains, seductive vamps and a radical Defence Secretary who wants to overthrow the US Government.
The bad news? It also has clichéd dialogues, unbelievable fight sequences and a sloppy storyline that threatens to nullify all the positive aspects of the movie.
Samuel L Jackson plays Augustus Gibbons, the survivor of an attack on the National Security Agency's top-secret headquarters, and a top propagandist of truth, justice and the American way (yeesh!).
And Ice Cube is Darius Stone, Gibbons' only chance at stopping Secretary of Defence George Decket (Willem Dafoe) from overthrowing the US government and taking over the country.
The other two characters on the scene are FBI agent Kyle Steele (Scott Speedman), who considers Stone a dangerous criminal, and Lola (Nona Gaye), a former flame (Ice Cube's) who owns a high-end car dealership.
The movie's ending is a predictable no-brainer; and sadly, so is the entire movie. A pity, considering that it features quite a few top-notch actors. Peter Strauss plays the hip American President, complete with a vocabulary pulsing with f-words and 2pac lines. And he does a good job, considering he does not have much of a job to do, anyway.
Ice Cube plays Spidey - jumping from tall buildings, thumping characterless baddies and romancing the gals, all the while yapping in a heavy ghetto accent. His stunts are hardly anything to crow about, unless your idea of entertainment is watching tubby rappers jump from skyscraper to skyscraper. Makes you wish he had stuck to fighting with big rubber anacondas instead...
The fight sequences are, simply put, indigestible. And you would have to take them with more than just a pinch of salt to get that bad taste off your mouth. But then comes the silver lining - Willem Dafoe. He excels in his role of the cold, calculating foreign secretary, just waiting for his chance to grab the juicy morsel. However, you wonder how someone who had acted in good movies like Platoon and The English Patient could stoop to performing in a mediocre silver screen hide n' seek game.
But make no mistake ... XXX - The Next Level, with all its clichéd dialogues and corny jokes, could prove to be an entertainer - provided you leave your brain at home.