Review of xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017) by Kristofer H — 22 Jan 2017

Proper Perspective: Not an Oscar contender, for anything, but xXx was actually a lot of fun. This installment is more Fast and Furious in that it is a bunch on non-heroes being heroes and less "actual spy movie." Go in with a few drinks and friends and shut your brain off...

Official Synopsis: Xander Cage is left for dead after an incident, though he secretly returns to action for a new, tough assignment with his handler Augustus Gibbons.

Plot: A device that can control any and all satellites, no matter the country of origin has been made (of course) and is now in the hands of terrorists (again, of course). Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) is recruited by Marke (Toni Collette) to rejoin the xXx Task Force because he can "move and fight" like these street terrorists. He assembles his own team of eclectic and skilled rebels like himself. You see in the trailer, the two teams fight and then come together, then the rest of the movie unfolds.

No need for brain power here, the plot unfolds exactly as you would assume.

Take: This was a lot of fun, which is one of two things I liked about this movie. The characters were for the most part written very well with pun-y one-liners and some clever dialog. About 98.564% of this movie is wholly unrealistic and would not happen. I am pretty sure Xander Cage died at least four times in this movie. That goes back to the fun, there is enough fun in this movie to mask the crazy unrealistic Fast and Furious action and make it enjoyable.

This is an enjoyable movie.

Aside from the fun, this is a very diverse movie. Not diverse to be diverse, but rather they take some of the better actors with different backgrounds and nationalities to form an awesome cast. Donnie Yen (China), Deepika Padukone (Denmark), Kris Wu (China), Ruby Rose (Australia), Tony Jaa (Thailand), Rory McCann (Scotland), Nina Dobrev (Bulgaria), and Hermione Corfield (England) give this cast a great international flavor. Also Toni Collette (Australia) rounds out a cast with Neymar (Brazil), Samuel L. Jackson, and Diesel.

The diversity in this cast was refreshing after trailers for The Great Wall primarily featuring two American actors in a movie about the myth of the Great Wall of China... And Ghost in the Shell, staring a great white actress from New York in an adaptation of a Japanese Manga...

XXx: The Return of Xander Cage is not going to win an Oscar or make you think or raise your IQ and you probably won't remember the movie much like the first two in a week, but it is a lot of fun at the beginning of the year in theaters where the other options are The Bye-Bye Man, Sleepless, and movies you have probably already seem.

Recommendation: Go check this one out. It is worth the ticket price and inflated cost of popcorn and beer at the theaters. Fun, diverse cast, and an opportunity to support American made movies with great talents like Donnie Yen and Deepika Padukone.

Also, if you remember the first movie at all there is a scene where Diesel tells a smoker that his cigarette will kill him, which happens later in the movie. There is a scene like that in this one too. Fun little nugget.