XXX: Return of Xander Cage

Starring: Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, Rory McCann, Toni Collette, Samuel L. Jackson, Ice Cube, Hermoine Corfield, Tony Gonzalez, Neymar
Directed by: D.J. Caruso
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) reluctantly comes out of hiding to help stop a new global threat.

Review:
Tim: Fifteen years ago, I really enjoyed the original XXX. Those were simpler days and I knew a lot less about movies. I also have to believe that the original film was just better than this one. It felt like this film came years too late. Did we really need to see another Xander Cage movie? Maybe, but regardless of need, this is a fairly average movie overall. The first film was helped by the uniqueness of Vin Diesel as an extreme sports hero. We've seen a lot more than that in the last fifteen years, so any novelty this franchise might have had is long gone. This was a forgettable, generic action movie.

I had a hard time believing any of the stunts performed in this film. Yes, there were certainly some cool moments, but the laws of physics and logic are so easily broken, it gave the whole thing a fairly absurd vibe. It was hard to take anything we saw on screen seriously. Add in some pretty weak dialogue from start to finish, plus a generic, been-there-before story and you get a fairly run-of-the-mill experience. Nothing here felt new or even inspired. It felt a bit like a cash grab, to be honest. Lets dust off this old character (I know I'm getting old when Xander Cage is considered an "old" character, but it's been 15 years!!!!!) and make some money. Besides some cool action sequences, there's really not a whole lot to get excited about here.

Vin Diesel was fine in the lead role, but I fail to see why Cage is an interesting character. He's a caricature. He has none of the interesting qualities of a Dom Toretto and isn't as instantly cool as a Riddick. He's arrogant and shallow and one-dimensional. Why should I care at all about him? The film never answers this.

The larger cast was a mixed bag. I loved the international quality of the cast- this isn't a movie made up of white men, which was a refreshing departure. I loved the diversity of the cast and it was fun seeing people like Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, and Rory McCann here. Now, there were also quite a few questionable actors involved, so the acting across the board was pretty bad. We have Tony Gonzalez and Neymar as part of the cast, so you can imagine acting ability wasn't a top priority for the casting department. It was great seeing Samuel L. Jackson for a few scenes and I absolutely love that they brought Ice Cube back. I desperately wish these two had more to do, however. That hurts the film, putting these two mostly on the sidelines.

The story itself is really, really weak. There's these bad guys. And there's a mcguffin they want to get and there's world domination plots, shadowy governmental employees, double crosses. Honestly, it all felt like a poor ripoff job of dozens of better movies. This film has nothing new to say and it didn't even feel like it tried. The plot felt like an excuse to move our characters from one action sequence to the next. No one seemed all that interested in why any of this was happening. This felt strange because I actually like several of D.J. Caruso's films. I felt like he was a better director than what we got here. It truly felt like he was phoning it in. Like he knew the script was garbage, so he just went through the motions to collect a paycheck. I have no idea what Caruso's intentions were, but I cannot believe he was proud of this work.

I'd certainly have liked Xander Cage's return to have been of a higher quality. XXX: Return of Xander Cage might not be a terrible movie, but it's never more than a completely average one. I've already heard they are planning more movies- I just hope this franchise can turn things around.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: XXX, XXX: State of the Union