XXX (**½)
I'll admit it. I am a fan of Vin Diesel. No other movie star in the past 20 years has the potential to make the same kind of impact in Action Films as Sylvester Stallone did with Rambo and as Arnold Schwarzenegger did with Commando. Just like Sly and Arnold, Vin has an intimidating physique, impressive athleticism, a great name, and a commanding presence. But Diesel has something that neither of the two had... he can really act.
Don't get me wrong, I love Arnold because of his genius in picking roles. He can't display a wide range emotions, but nobody is better at choosing characters who can display what he's great at... implacability (the ability to seem merciless without pity or emotion). That's why THE TERMINATOR is one of the great movie heroes/villains ever made. I've never really been a fan of Stallone, but if it weren't for his portrayal of John Rambo in FIRST BLOOD and RAMBO, there would never be the unstoppable hero we have in films today. Bruce Willis, Van Damme, and even Tom Cruise all owe it to ol' Sly (Some critics of course will debate whether this has been a good thing).
Vin Diesel has already proven himself before. I first noticed him in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, where he played Private Adrian Caparzo. The first thing I wondered after seeing him was, who was that huge man? Sure enough, I got to see him again in PITCH BLACK, and I knew that I was seeing a major star in the making. The man literally carried the film (aside from other items in it). Then came THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, a wonderfully masculine movie about machismo and machines. There he had to share the limelight with Paul Walker, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he would get his own movie. And here it is with XXX.
If you've seen a James Bond movie, you know XXX will go. Some evil dude will be trying to take over the world (or bring it down), and you can expect him to explain how he'll do it before he dies or is defeated. There'll be babes, gadgets, weapons, cars, and stunts that involve all or any of them in some way or another. And of course, Vin Diesel will play the secret agent. His character here is Xander Cage, a muscle-bound version of Tony Hawk (who also appears here as his close buddy), who just loves to perform the most outrageous of stunts just for the sake of breaking the rules or making a statement. Agent Gibbons (Samuel Jackson of PULP FICTION), is a high ranking NSA agent who wants to use Xander to break into a foreign terrorist group called Anarchy 99 (who look like football hooligans to me). Why pick Xander (who will be labeled XXX, an obvious spoof of 007)? Because he's a hooligan himself.
Some people think that XXX an anti-Bond film, when it's actually an homage to the genre, taking a different stance only with the film's characters. In Bond films, almost everyone is suave and well-mannered. Here, it's the opposite. In the 007 movies, Q was a wise old inventor of weapons and gadgetry advising Bond not to abuse them. Here, a weapon specialist encourages XXX to use his weapons, even saying, "Go kick some ass." Other similar aspects include the spy's love interest, who in this case is Yelena (Asia Argento). If at some point you don't realize that she's also an agent working for another secret organization, you obviously haven't been watching Bond films.
Is the movie worth seeing? It's hard to say. The movie has no clear intention of sticking to conventional action movies in the sense that there is tension. There is none. Its clear goal is to wow you, and on those terms, it left me wanting. It has one incredible stunt or two and the rest of them look quite ridiculous, but I enjoyed those stunts nonetheless because the film's whole premise was ridiculous to begin with. There is a series of spectacular motorcycle jumps, but the events they were founded on were outlandishly silly.
E.g. XXX had to find a motorcycle to get a fellow prisoner out of a base. He walks a couple of yards at most to find the bike. Yet while on his way back to rescue his colleague, he practically jumps all over the place. Some of those jumps were spectacular, but they annoy you after a while. The movie also has an avalanche scene that makes the one in VERTICAL LIMIT look like water running from a tap.
I know, this movie wants to be fun. Its a movie targeted for male teens, and it relies more on effects than storyline. But I wanted more. I wanted to see something like TRUE LIES, where the premise was somewhat silly, but was treated infinitely more seriously. TRUE LIES like XXX is one huge exaggeration, but done with more energy and style than just pure spectacle. XXX wants to impress us, but it doesn't take enough care of it scenes to appear more believable. There are some moments and scenes here that look so fake, which are barely saved by Vin Diesel's rouge personality.
I know that I've been putting Vin Diesel on a pedestal in these past few paragraphs, but he deserves to be. He has a natural flair and demeanor that comes with being an action star. He is completely convincing in his apathetic attitude and focused intensity. Even in scenes where he doesn't need to act (such as the final climax), he does and does so convincingly. It helps that he used to work as a bouncer, and it shows in his look. Here is one bad dude you do not want to mess with (surprisingly, the movie has two goons bigger than Diesel!).
But Mr. Diesel isn't the only treat here, Samuel L. Jackson as always is great to watch. He provides the balance Diesel's bad man approach as his sharp, intelligent, and ruthless NSA superior. Here's one bad dude passing on the mantle to another one. Wouldn't it have been great if Mr. Jackson played the bad guy? Asia Argento is a talented newcomer. She's able to keep a straight face and stay in character even in silly situations. The only bad thing about Yorgi who is played by Marton Csokas is his name (Yorgi?). He reminds me of Kevin Spacey, only taller and more eccentric.
It's too bad that director Rob Cohen made the mistake of giving a flimsy plot to a great action star in the making. You think he would've learned to repeat the success of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS by sticking to Vin Diesel's mean streak, instead of trying to electrify the youngsters the movie is aimed at. Think of XXX as the X-Games meets James Bond. Vin Diesel and Samuel Jackson are just too mean for this juvenile material and deserve better. I hope Mr. Jackson can show Mr. Diesel the way and hope everybody else stays out of it. By film's end, XXX may save the world, but he can't quite save the movie.
Posted by FLIPCRITIC at August 21, 2002 02:20 PM