XXX: Blu-ray disc DVD Review

(Originally published Aug. 9, 2002)

The new cartoon action fantasy, “XXX,” stars Vin Diesel as Xander Cage, a bald-headed, beefed-up bruiser in a sheepskin pimp coat whose intellect runs as deep as the tattoos crisscrossing his chest.

Nicknamed “Triple-X” by Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), a member of the National Security Agency determined to have Xander as his next spy, Xander is an extreme sports superstar famous for posting a videotaped series of law-breaking stunts on his popular Web site, the Xander Zone.

But when Xander goes too far, stealing a senator’s Corvette, crashing it over a bridge and parachuting to safety in the film’s first big set piece, Gibbons hunts him down and pins him with an ultimatum: Either become a spy and help save the world from a crazy bunch of Czech hooligans or spend the next several years getting cheap tattoos in prison.

Reluctantly, Xander jets off to Prague—and “XXX” jets into the stratosphere.

As directed by Rob Cohen, who scored big with Diesel in last year’s “The Fast and the Furious,” “XXX” is slick entertainment without a brain in its head.

It’s dumb fun slapped silly, a new franchise inspired by the Bond films that’s not far from the porn its title promises--the film is a veritable orgy of outrageous stunts, most of which are kicked so high into the heavens, the film threatens to pass out as Cohen hammers away at the screen in an all-out effort to outdo himself.

The result? A film that occasionally feels like a right hook to the jaw.

After a shaky start, there’s a lot to admire here. Fueled by its thundering soundtrack, the film finds itself in Prague, where Xander must infiltrate a nightclub called Anarchy 99, charm the grease off the chief bad guy, Yorgi (Marton Csokas), and make nice with his girl, Yelena (Asia Argento), a brooding Uma Thurman-wannabe who smolders like a snuffed stogie--and who has her own ideas about Yorgi’s plans to use chemical weapons on the world.

Mirroring “The Fast and the Furious,” “XXX” works because it knows what it is—a flashy B movie streamlined to be a guilty pleasure. There are no pretensions here, just fireworks and attitude, attitude and fireworks. Diesel got $10 million to star in the movie—watch him get $20 million to star in its sequel.

Grade: B