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XXX stars the up and coming Vin Diesel who play Xander Cage, an extreme sport
artist who video tapes himself doing dangerous and illegal stunts and sells his
tapes to the black market. Ironically a government agent named Gibbons, played
by Samuel Jackson, recruits him to infiltrate a Russian crime ring and dig up as
much information as possible. The idea may sound corny at first, but it works
well in the movie and sets Xander up for many wild adventures.
The Buzz: The movie "the Fast and the Furious" directed by Neil Moritz
and starring Vin Diesel turned out to be more popular than anyone could have
imagined. Because of this lots of people are excited to see what the next
"Moritz and Diesel" movie combination would be like and they do not disappoint!
I think the majority of fans who liked F&F will love this flick. It don't have
the fly cars F&F has, but it does have the same slick feel we've come to expect
from Moritz. I didn't like the F&F too much, (even though the stunts, the cars
and Vin Diesel's presence made the movie at least OK), but with Triple X it's a
whole new ballpark. It's a much better movie then F&F. It has action, adventure
and more action! Moritz did a banged up job on this flick, if only the story was
a little bit better... I wonder what his next project will be?
The good: Vin Diesel (Xander Cage) and Samuel L. Jackson (Gibbons).
Although Jackson played a small part in the film, he makes the most of the
screen time and the details of the character. Diesel on the other hand is the
featured star; if you're a big fan of him you will love this movie. I had
trouble liking the character Vin portrayed: is he a good guy or bad guy? Despite
that, it turns out that this movie would be nothing without him and he earned
the 20 million dollars they paid him. The stunts and special effects are also
spectacular (they are a bit overdone, but this can be a good thing depending on
who you are). There were a few CGI artifacts here and there, but they were
pretty good, and I only noticed them in 10% of the special effect shots. The
high paced energy of the movie will surly excite most.
The bad: Despite the good performances form the big stars, the plot
suffers. While I can't mention too much without spoiling it, you're not going to
want to see this movie for the story despite its surprises. Its not that bad,
but it's a bit of a let down considering the slick production of everything
else. Asia Agento (Yelena), tried her best to make the most out of the role, but
the other characters always seemingly overshadow her. There was not much for her
to work with anyhow. And the rest of the characters are watered down compared to
the 2 big stars, I wont even go into the other bad guys...
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Execution - 2
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The Stars - 4
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The cast - 2
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Special effects - 3
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Tilt - 3
Unrivaled rating: 2.8
Overall: I liked this movie a lot despite its thin plot and shallow bad
guys. If you like Vin Diesel and crazy stunts, go see this movie. Even if you
don't, you might find yourself liking the new wave of secret agents. Just don't
expect to be wowed by a deep and involving story. Entertaining and fun.
