xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage

Since i am turning 40 this summer, i know what women in my age dream of, every single day, every minute. How can i know this ? Let´s just say i can read women´s mind, at least after a couple of whiskey shots ( makes it more easy ). Women in their 40´s want actor Vin Diesel, in fact this is the ideal man of many women. A bald muscle man, with a smile that will make you melt, i can understand why they are drawn to this ( not talking about my personal experiences ). Vin Diesel have become a household name worldwide, making action films that are fast, brutal and cheesy dialogue is of course always included. Most people love to see him in the Fast And Furious series, and i can agree that he is a steady reason for why you watch these films. Vin Diesel have made several other films in his career, outside the Fast And Furious films. Perhaps not so many that people might remember. But there is actually one film that i enjoyed, that bombed at the box office. The Last Witch Hunter, a horror action film that tried to combine horror, with classic witch ingredients, and made a fun combination. Nice to see legendary actor Michael Caine on board, and Elijah Wood in the cast as well. Let´s go back now, to the year of 2002. You might think i want to talk about the first The Fast And The Furious film, but that film came out in 2001. Instead, let´s talk about the action film xXx. Seeing Vin Diesel as the spy Xander Cage, for the National Security Agency, was a fun ride. Silly, and cheesy dialogue, but the action scenes delivered, and director Rob Cohen knew how to transform Vin Diesel to a secret spy. When a sequel was going to be made, Diesel did not return as Xander Cage, so instead Ice Cube stepped in to the action in xXx: State Of The Union. Not as good as the first film, but Ice Cube turned out to be a good choice in the lead role. His loud, raw language fit his character Darius Stone. The sequel flopped, and it seemed to be the last xXx film. But here we are in 2017, with a brand new sequel, with the original Xander Cage returning to the screen. So does Vin Diesel bring an action feast to us who appreciate lots of violence, or is this an awful sequel that never should have seen the light of day ?

NSA Agent Agustus Gibbons ( Samuel L. Jackson ) attempts to recruit footballer Neymar. Jr ( as himself ) for the xXx program. Unfortunately, both are killed when a satellite crashes in Brazil. Shortly after this happens, a team of four skilled individuals are led by Xiang ( Donnie Yeung ) infiltrates the highly guarded CIA headquarters, to retrieve " Pandora´s Box " ( a device capable to control satellites to crash at locations near warheads ). CIA Agent Jane Marke ( Toni Collette ) tracks down former xXx operative Xander Cage ( Vin Diesel ), who faked his death, and have been living in self-imposed exile in the Dominican Republic. CIA Agent Jane need Xander Cage to return to duty, and at first he does not seem interested, unitl he finds out his dear friend Agustus have been killed. He finally agree, but only if he uses his own team of sharpshooter Adele Wolff ( Ruby Rose ), DJ Harvard " Nicks "Zhou ( Kris Wu ) and getaway driver Tennyson " The Torch " ( Rory McCann ). The team of Xander Cage, is also aided by introverted weapon specialist Becky Clearidge ( Nina Dobrev ). Their main mission is to get " Pandora´s Box " back.

I think we should be honest. If you think violence, hot girls, guns, explosions, and bad language is the work of Satan, then you are going to love xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage. We have plenty of fun stuff here, and yes this is a dumb action film. But who cares ? A film like this is not supposed to be intelligent, dramatic, or heart warming. It is all about violence, and lots of speed. If you remember the previous xXx films, they were also filled with plenty of hard hitting action scenes. We get that in this film as well, perhaps even more with all the hard hitting martial art scenes, where Donny Yen kicks a hell of a lot of ass. Tony Jaa is also here, and in the scenes where he also fight, we are having fun. Unfortunately Tony Jaa does not get a chance to fight more, but nice to see him doing a different character. Vin Diesel pretty much remind of of Xander Cage, the typical macho type who love ladies, and to clean up evil turds. I think one of the most pleasantly surprises in this sequel, is Ruby Rose as the sniper Adele Wollf. She is tough, funny as well, and fits great to her character. I love the idea of a team gathered to help Xander Cage this time, almost like another version of The Expendables. Every person in this team have skills in different areas, so of course Xander Cage gets the chance to have some fun. While watching this film in a cinema, i was reminded of why i enjoy action films. You don´t need a good script, or really powerful dialogue, what we want is hard hitting action sequences, and you pretty much get it all here. I will say that the first film xXx is the best of the film series ( so far ), but this third film manage to work, because of the cast. I really enjoy the evil Jane Marke, played by Toni Collette. She is rough, and clearly knows how to handle complicated situations. There are of course some ideas that don´t really bring anything fresh, but that´s ok, because this is clearly made as a tribute to fans of classic B action films from the 80´s and 90´s. Director D.J. Caruso have directed several films in the past, such as Disturbia, Eagle Eye and I Am Number Four. I especially enjoyed his film Eagle Eye, that gave us a different view on future technology, and what could happen if the technology controlled our lives completely. His take on the xXx trilogy is clearly to deliver pure action, and he manage to do so. This is a simple film, with the same basics as the previous films in the series. Tired of hearing all the ladies telling you how good Fifty Shades Darker is ? Then i suggest you go and see xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage in cinemas, because clearly no one could be more 50 Shades than Vin Diesel in an armed suit. Did you hear that Christian Grey ? Looks like you have no chance at all.

By the way, well done China making this film an enormous success, hopefully you will do the same when Turbo Kid 2 hits theatres ( if it does get a theatre release ).

Rating: DDD