Paul Greenwood reviews

• Cert:
• Running time: 124 minutes
• Year: 2002
• Released: 18th October 2002
• Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1
• Rating: 7/10

Director:

Rob Cohen (Daylight, Dragonheart, The Fast and the Furious, xXx)

Cast:

Xander Cage: Vin Diesel
Yelena: Asia Argento
Yorgi: Marton Csokas
Agent Gibbons: Samuel L. Jackson
Agent Shavers: Michael Roof
J.J: Eve
Senator Dick Hotchkiss: Tom Everett
Agent Jim McGrath: Thomas Ian Griffith
Milan Sova: Richy M=FCller
Kirill: Werner D=E4hn

I think I might have gone deaf. If there is a louder film this year than xXx, then I'd probably do well to give it a miss, lest my eardrums give in completely. Fortunately in this case, the decibel level is directly proportionate to the fun, as this is one of the best action films I've seen in ages. While somewhat rough and ready and lacking in sophistication for a secret agent caper, it will fill the time nicely until 007 himself returns next month. What xXx has done in the meantime is up the ante in terms of spectacle and stunt ridiculousness and, while certainly not surpassing Bond, has given its makers something to think about, especially with two sequels already planned.

In a cheeky prologue,a Bond-esque character is assassinated in a Prague nightclub. This is a source of some concern for his bosses who have lost several agents in pursuit of an arch villain. Opting for a fresh approach, Agent Gibbons pressgangs a selection of criminals and societal misfits with a view to moulding a different breed of agent. Enter Diesel as Xander Cage (or X), extreme sports enthusiast and purveyor of death defying stunts performed and filmed for an underground web site. He is an authority despising maverick with a back catalogue of crazy and illegal antics, including stealing a senator's sports car and driving it off a bridge into a ravine.

Faced with the choice of prison or taking on a mission for the agency, X soon finds himself in Prague trying to infiltrate a gang of car thieves.. The gangs agenda goes much deeper though - they are in fact a group of anarchists intent on unleashing a deadly chemical weapon on the public. X (now dubbed xXx by Gibbons) pursues them, at first just to stay out of jail, but soon he is doing it for kicks and finally out of a sense of duty when it comes time for him to save the world.

So much for the plot then, your standard Euro-nutter-wants-to-do-bad-things-to-lots-of-people nonsense. It matters little when the thrills are this good. Skydiving, wacky races, motorcycle mayhem and plenty of fisticuffs, gunfights and big explosions all serve as the warm ups for the money shot of the year: the sequence where X snowboards down a mountain while being chased by an avalanche (suspend your disbelief at the door, by the way) is absolutely astounding and drew many gasps and very nearly a round of applause from the audience.

For the rest of the action, I'd expected a slightly more tongue-in-cheek approach, but for the most part it's played pretty straight. I have to say I'm not totally convinced by Diesel's acting credentials. He has presence and charisma, but he doesn't seem hugely comfortable with lots of dialogue or romancing Ms Argento and he may do well not to try stretching too far beyond the role of action hero. Indeed, most of the credit for the big man's display here probably has to go the stunt man and the computer graphics man, who more than earn their paychecks. Give xXx a go if you think you're hard enough.

Review copyright © Paul Greenwood, 2002.