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xXx Starring Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson Directed by Rob Cohen PG-13 for violence, non-stop action sequences, sensuality, drug content and language **3/4 out of 4 Stars, Movie Grade: B-

Theatrical Release: August 9, 2002

Running time: 91 minutes

by Kevin Lang

There's nothing wrong with movies requiring us to use our imaginations a little to look past slight discrepancies in the plausibility of a scene. I'm not one to pick at deviations of reality, because after all, it is a movie and most of the time they are purely fictional. However, the question that arose in my mind while watching Revolution Studio's latest release, "XXX," was where in certain scenes of action did we as an audience render what we were seeing to be too outrageous to believe at all, even with the use of our imaginations?

"XXX" starred Vin Diesel who broke onto the Hollywood scene four years ago playing Private Caparzo in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan." Since then he has made one wise choice after another, culminating with 2001's "The Fast and the Furious," whose director, Rob Cohen, was also behind the camera for "XXX."

The story surrounded an extreme sports athlete named Xander Cage whose law breaking stunts and athletic ability resulted in getting him recruited by the NSA to become a secret agent. Xander went through a series of initiation tests. One involved him getting forcefully ejected from the back of a cargo plane directly onto a runway, whereby afterwards he rose to his feet and proclaimed that he lived for that type of rush. I still don't know what that test was supposed to reveal, but it was exciting to watch regardless.

Afterward, he was sent to infiltrate a group of criminals in Prague known as Anarchy 99. The group's plan was to attack major world cities with a deadly chemical weapon known as Silent Night. Immersed in a familiar environment of fast cars, fast women, and living on the edge, Xander (or X) used his strength and extreme sports abilities to try and stop the group before they could execute their plan.

The other actors in the film were well cast, and they more than adequately filled the requirements of their roles. The tough Yelena played by Asia Argento mixed well with Vin Diesel's fearless Xander to create an enjoyable environment of foreplay and romance. Diesel's interaction with a scar-faced Samuel L. Jackson, who played NSA Agent Gibbons, was also enjoyable as they exchanged humorously impolite remarks between one another.

Several action scenes in "XXX" bent reality beyond what my imagination was willing to accept. Yet, in other sequences I found myself going along for the ride. Perhaps the most unbelievable scenes were the dirt bike scenes where X used freestyle motocross to fight and evade the enemy. We never saw clearly what he was jumping off of, and when we could actually see his landings, they appeared too smooth and almost non-existent. Most of them should have been much rougher or close to impossible. I am familiar with this type of motocross, and even if under the right conditions most of the jumps and tricks were possible, the conditions presented themselves too readily in the film, and the maneuvers were pulled off with no prior contemplation by our hero. Even James Bond usually stops to consider a dangerous feat before he attempts it, but I don't want to bring 007 into this review just yet.

Other scenes of disbelief included X riding a silver serving tray down a stair banister to evade a sniper. He made everything look too easy. Perhaps the movie's biggest oversight or point of ignorance was not realizing that being labeled an extreme sports athlete does not mean that you are exceptionally good at every extreme sport. It takes great skill to be good at one of these sports let alone be good at all of them and be able to do all of them with ease.

"XXX" has been called James Bond for today's generation, a rougher more modern version of the established hero. This may be true in some ways, but couldn't every modern action hero who is smooth with women and quick on the stick be labeled this way too, especially to market a film? The truth is that "XXX" will never replace the persona that is 007, and it is much to premature to even begin to seriously compare the two franchises ("XXX 2" has already been given the go ahead). On it's own, "XXX" may do well at the box-office. It was an enjoyable film filled with testosterone pumping action, a moderately engaging plot, and interesting characters. Even with its believability in question at times, it still managed to hold my interest while offering visually appealing effects and an exciting conclusion.

"XXX" Review written August 1, 2002, CTF.