xXx (2002)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2002
	Director: Rob Cohen (Daylight, Stealth)
	Actors: Vin Diesel (Pitch Black, Riddick), Asia Argento (The Stendhal Syndrom, Land of the Dead), Marton Csokas (The Fellowship of the Rings, Noah), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 10.09.2015, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Skateboarder / stuntman / video artist / extremely cool guy, Xander Cage (Diesel) is kidnapped then hired by a goverment agency looking for a potential undercover agent that does not look like a secret agent.
Review: Back in 2002 Vin Diesel had just been discovered in Pitch Black and was starting to become a big action hero with Fast & Furious. So the studios were looking for movies to produce that would fit him, and xXx is obviously built to that purpose, and to please the audience that liked him in Fast & Furious. The movie indeed contains cool stunts with on-board cameras (pre-Go Pro), a heavy metal soundtrack, gun and fistfights, cool cars, tattooed gangsters, gadgets and a load of punchlines. Which makes it funny to watch with a bunch of friends with pizza and beer, but make you realize how empty it is if you look a bit more carefully: the humour is dumb, the special effects borderline and the actors unconvincing. The idea of a James Bond movie (including its typical villain and doomsday weapon) lead by a anti-hero is the single concept around which the movie is build, but unfortunately that is spoiled by a film-making trying to be cooler than cool. Welcome to the Xander Zone!
Rating: 4 /10