xXx (2002)
A New Breed of Secret Agent.
You might think this review is an odd choice - but hey, nothing should seem odd at this point with the wide breadth of stuff I end up watching. We’ve got some action, we’ve got some babes, we’ve got some young’n Diesel and a soundtrack that you’ll reminisce about if your old enough. I apologize to all the people running web searches now, tonight’s movie is xXx.
I’m going to start with audio this time - because it’s just that darn fun. Look, a lot of it is going to be nostalgia fuel - all that 2000’s metal is the stuff anyone would be used to - but if you played a lot of video games and stuff, particularly the racers and action ones, you’d feel right at home. Get ready for the memory road trip - and to boot, despite only a few of them sounding as though they are made for the movie, they do manage to queue in stuff that actually works quite well with whats going on thematically. Yes, not all of it is that, but the fact it’s there is still worth a mention I feel. It’s all also well balanced - yes, the music is loud but you won’t be having a hard time understanding any lines - unless you don’t speak Russian and Czech, in which case you’ll hear them fine and still won’t understand some of the lines.
Next, let’s dip into the plot. The Government is having a problem with it’s agents getting dead while trying to infiltrate an organization, so one of the spooks decides to try a new tactic - taking not-trained people who fit the bill and throwing them into it, a bit Suicide Squad style. Our main character is an adrenaline junkie whose gotten himself into a bit of trouble, and the “help serve the country” or “go to jail for a long time” has a pretty clear winner as options. His job is to get intel on the big bad organization that’s going from drug-running criminal super-gang to potential terrorist. Of course complications arise, and of course he needs to solve them with dramatic action scenes and one liners.
It’s not super elaborate, despite it pulling plenty of “gotcha” cards along the run. This is a good thing though - this is more a spectacle and adrenaline movie than a think it through sort of thing. It’s got guns, girls, and shirtless guys with abs. Heavy music and gun fights, snow boarding and sick motorcycle tricks. It’s like someone slapped your Tony Hawk games into your Tom Clancy games while trying to make a James Bond movie with a younger target audience. Does it work? I believe it works well enough, but again I wouldn’t go and super analyze the thing because it doesn’t hold up as well to scrutiny as if you just let yourself have fun with it.
Sick moves dog.
The acting is alright. Sometimes it can seem a bit bland, but in all honesty it’s largely “if you’ve seen Vin Diesel then you’ve seen Vin Diesel” in regards to the main. Sometimes it seems like he’s over reacting, sometimes it seems like hes under reacting. Nobody does a real bad job here, and at time it actually works really good. The interplay between the three “test subjects” is quite entertaining. The play between some of the other characters also works well. The villains have their own little backstory, although it’s not really going to make them feel too much more than just bad guys anyways - but it’s a noble effort. The lead lady shows the most range, on account of her character - and that’s pretty nice.
There’s some jokes in here - or at least some stuff to laugh at. It’s over the top, much like a title of “xXx” would imply. Sometimes something might be so dumb or bad you’ll laugh at it, sometimes it’s a genuinely well timed one liner cracking that smile. Composition-wise it’s surprisingly well put together too - yes, it’s a bit hectic in the cuts and action at time, but if they set something up you can be assured that it’ll come back at some point and be somewhat relevant to the plot - no matter how dumb it might be.
Action scenes are good, and the music to accompany with it is great. Effects work is pretty level and good, although you do get a few times where it shows its age a bit (looking at some of those snow bits in the ‘boarding scene). For the most part, costumes are good as well - it might not have been particularly stand out especially if that was your scene, but it provides a nice bit of something different. Sometimes that different is feathery or furry coats - honestly, a lot of times in this. It’s still all good, and the props also look pretty cool. Gadgets are a base point for spy type movies, and this one does have a good handful - largely the worlds coolest binoculars and some gnarly darts for a revolver. It also has some pretty sweet sports tricks for various things, like dirt bikes, boards, that sort of thing.
Every boyscout’s dream.
The movie is a good enough time. It won’t blow you out of the water, no, but the soundtrack is great especially if you have any nostalgic attachment to that kind of music. The acting and plot are all fine, the make-out scenes are so corny, and the action scenes get you bopping in your seat. There’s certainly worse things you could sit down to watch - but that movie title isn’t one that’s going to keep you out of trouble if you go search for it that’s for sure.