xXx (2002)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
Diesel (Find Me Guilty) plays Xander Cage in "xXx," your standard and A-typical adrenaline junkie and popular sports athlete with no fear and a lousy attitude. When the U.S. Government "recruits" him to go on a mission, he's not exactly thrilled. His mission: to gather information on an anarchist organization, led by Yorgi, played by Marton Csokas (Aeon Flux), which may be planning the destruction of the world. Director Rob Cohen had a field day with dutch angles on this project. Dutch angeles are those shot that tilt any degree from its Y-axis. I don't mind them, but too many give me a soar neck, especially if they have no purpose. The characters were very cliched, particularly the assistant to Samuel J. Jackson's (Freedomland) NSA character. Just before Xander accepts the NSA's offer, the assistant gets in Xander's face and says "Are you sure we want him. He's got an attitude." How many times have we heard this? I think it was said in every "Die Hard" movie for starters. Generally, this is one of those Hollywood action movies which relies on stupid quips for its hero to seem tough and rebelious, even though his actions already show that. I liked the plot, but the execution was feeble. What else do we expect from the director who later did "Stealth;" one of the wort movies of 2005. A lot of people seem to like "xXx," so maybe you should rent it if you haven't and see if you dig it. I didn't. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
The story on this typical Hollywood heap was decent but filmmakers ruined it by trying to make Vin Diesel an action star.
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