Rating: Summary: Good goofy fun Review: XXX is no more believable than Swordfish or Snatch, and Vin Diesel certainly isn't the world's best actor, but it's fun in a goofy/spoofy kind of way. Yes, it's derivative and dopey ... but I thought it beat the pants off of "Bourne Identity," which also featured a guy and a woman careening around Europe while bad guys were trying to do them in. Why? Because "Bourne" takes itself seriously and XXX doesn't, and Vin Diesel is more fun to watch than Matt Damon.
Rating: Summary: Espionage with an attitude Review: At the beginning of the movie, a man in tuxedo, conspicuous in his incongruity at a Rammstein concert, is gunned down by a sniper. Proclaiming to be "a new breed of spy", perhaps XXX hopes to do the same to that other secret agent we all know and love.Part of our love affair with James Bond involves suspending our disbelief. It would be hard to believe that a middle-aged Brit guy with average physique could pull off almost superhuman stunts. Enters XXX, a heavily tattooed tough guy with the neck of a professional wrestler and a temper to match. Vin Diesel is the perfect actor for the role. With Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis all past their primes, Diesel is fast emerging as the new premiere action star. He certainly possesses the body and the gruff visage. Better yet, he has more facial expressions than Stallone and smoother delivery than Schwarzenegger. Even his name exudes toughness (and is infinitely more pronounceable than Arnold's). Diesel plays Xander Cage, a bad-arsed extreme athlete who sports a shaved head and as many one-liners as he has tattoos. A sort of politically conscious outlaw, he steals a politician's Corvette and drives it off the bridge to make a statement. He is tracked down by a government spyboss (Samuel L. Jackson) with a scarred face and a penchant for giving pop quizzes to his recruits. After a brief trial demolishing the compound of a Columbian drug lord, Xander, now codenamed XXX, is sent to Prague to stop a Yorgi (Martin Csoskas, a lot tougher-looking since his role as the elf king in the Lord of the Rings), a madman hell-bent on world domination. Infiltrating the gang of toughs is easy, as Xander's reputation precedes him. Yorgi surrounds himself with grim-faced, tattooed, muscle-bound thugs and beautiful Yelena (doe-eyed and also highly tattooed Asia Argento). Yorgi concocts a complicated scheme to attack the world's major cities with biological weapons, engendering wars and anarchy. Xander's task is to prevent Yorgi from carrying out his plan, and the best approach seems to be through Yelena, who may have her own agenda. The parallels to Bond are unmistakable. Samuel L. Jackson's character is obviously inspired by M, though the NSA would probably frown at his methodology, which borders on blackmail. Xander's gadget guy isn't doddering old Q, but an excitable MIT nerdy frat-brother (yes, they do exist at MIT), though he just doesn't have as much personality and Q's endearing quality. Yorgi's villain cooks up a scheme involving a submersible delivering biological warheads from Prague to cities thousands of miles away; this seems to be an overly complicated plan compared to, say, just have someone fly there and set off the weapons. Didn't Austin Powers warn everyone about such scheme? At one point, XXX parachutes from a plane, snowboards down the mountain, and sets off an avalanche that buries his pursuers. Finally, in the end, XXX snuggles with the girl while his boss barks over the intercom for him to pick up the call. In this day and age of fierce patriotism, XXX is unabashedly pro-American. XXX steals a Corvette, gets messages on a Motorola, tools around Prague in a GTO, and soars over the Danube on a parachute emblazoned with an American flag. The new breed of spy is here. He sports a fur overcoat instead of a tuxedo, chugs beer instead of Martinis, and is 100% American. Of note is Asia Argento, who's best known as the notorious daughter of horror guru Dario Argento. Pouty Asia is competent but not spectacular in this movie. Nevertheless her sultry looks and spunky demeanor may win her a lot of American fans. The soundtrack has a techno-industrial feel. There is a full-length performance by the German heavy metal group Rammstein at the beginning. Orbital also makes an appearance half way through the movie. This movie is an entertaining, action-packed ride, a typical summer blockbuster vehicle. Whether it will endure as a Bond substitute remains to be seen. If you're looking for grittier, more visceral thrills, you may want to check out The Bourne Identity instead.
Rating: Summary: A good movie - if you are a 12 year old with ADD. Review: I saw this movie with a group of friends - we rented it. We only watched about 3/4 of it too because it was so terrible: the acting is very poor, the special effects are over-used, the plot is full of holes and is not very credible, all in all - it's just a waste of time. I'm sure there are plenty of pre-teen guy out there who think this movie is [great] but anyone with the smallest amount of good taste would give this movie a thumbs down. Save your money, don't buy or rent this ...
Rating: Summary: Worst action movie of the year. Review: I watched this movie because I like Asia Argento. However, even her usual screen presence could not make this movie work for me. The hero XXX ( Vin Diesel's character ) is dislikable. I found myself wanting him killed after the first five minutes. If you like action try Minority Report. XXX is a definite thumbs down.
Rating: Summary: Thought it would be good , it wasn't. Review: I thought this would be a good movie, I was very wrong. The acting is terrible, not only Vin Diesel's but all the actors are not doing a very good job, even Samuel L. Jackson's level is being dragged down by the rest. In this kind of movies the story doesn't have to be that good if the stunts are great, but they can not even do that right: All the smoke and explosives can't hide the ramps they use. Even the ending isn't exciting ! That this was such a big blockbuster is a really surprise to me and it's probably the worst ever! Do not watch this if u like Vin Diesel, you won't after this !
Rating: Summary: Review of xXx Review: Triple X was an interesting movie. No, wait, I take that back. It was very action packed. However, it had a plot that was as see-through as one of J-Lo's dresses. Vin Diesel stars as Xander Kage, an underground action junkey who uses his considerable abilities to do insane stunts. He's recruited by the N.S.A. to be a spy. The stunts themselves are great-I heard one guy was killed doing them-and are definitely worthy of Diesel. The movie was a great action movie even if the plot was a little lame.
Rating: Summary: Mmm... shirtless Vin. Review: Ok. So this is definately not oscar material, but it still gets a big thumbs up from me. Granted I am completely infatuated with Vin but I still think that the movie can stand on its own. I've never been much for spy movies so I can't compare this to any of the old Bond flicks, but I think that is one of the attractions about this movie. All we heard about this movie was "a new kind of secret agent" (which got a little old). But it was true I think they did a good job of appealing to this up-and-coming generation of extreme-sportsers and the like. Box office numbers don't lie. Plus the best part (the part that keeps giving and giving) shots of Vin shirtless. Yum.
Rating: Summary: like watching a video game Review: Not even Vin Diesel could save this movie.
Rating: Summary: Thought I'd love it...I thought wrong. Review: Boy was I disapointed. This film had no character developement, no real "set up", and the stunts were ridiculous. This seemed more of a 007 "wanna be", and 007 Vin Diesel is not. I watched the enitire film waiting for it to get better, it didn't. I would rent this before buying it, if I were you.
Rating: Summary: Vin Diesel got shot - - twice!! Review: I am not a fan of Vin Diesel, but I sat through this movie. Let me just say, seeing him get shot twice in the first 20 minutes really did a lot to improve my mood. It's not a great movie, but it's not bad. And if you don't like Vin Diesel, like me, seeing this movie will make you laugh, I promise.
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