XXX

Directed by Rob Cohen Writing credits (WGA) Rich Wilkes (written by)

Move Over 007

By Ross Anthony

Whew. I'm exhausted. This is one heck of an action movie; actually, one and a half! Almost too much action -- sensory overload. Reaching into the extreme sports world, Revolution Studios has created a bad-boy good-guy, "If you're going to send someone to save the world, you better make sure they like it the way it is!"

Vin Diesel fits the part like a skateboard in a half pipe. He's big. He's tough. He's caring. He's warm. And he fills the screen like wind in a parachute. Not only can he handle the action, but he's a fine actor, natural, charming, strong. I enjoyed him in "Boiler Room," and even in "Pitch Black" (though the rest of that movie wasn't so memorable). "Fast and the Furious" opened up Diesel to a large group of film lovers; "XXX" will solidify him as a film star.

Wasting no time getting to the action, some US agent is killed in Prague, his corpse involuntarily stage-diving into a crowd of metal-heads (bringing new meaning to the term "body-surfing"). In no time, Xander Cage (Vin) races some senator's Corvette off a bridge, leaping from the falling vehicle with a hand-bunched parachute. And that's just the opener. Fun, fast, loud, expertly & stylishly produced, well-acted, big action, this hokie film actually rises to the nearly believable/respectable in the middle, but can't keep it up. Which is okay - no one expected that in the first place.

An event in and of itself, the film solidly earns an "A-". But an over-the-top avalanche scene (which prompted applause from this audience) knocks the production up to an "A." It's worthy of the IMAX screen -- kudos to the special effects/stunt teams and director. The film is as determined as Xander to kick some butt and have fun doing it. The action is smooth, moving, and intense - not just stuff blowing up - although it has that too. (If you don't like heavy rock music - you might want to pass.)

For those who love Extreme Sports check out: "Ski to the Max," "Ultimate X," "World Supercross," "SkyDance," "Ocean Men" and "Wild Adventures in California."

Vin quotes: "Part of the draw of this character for me was that I'd have to do three months of preparation and training. So I set out to train with the best rock climbers, motocross, snowboarding and weaponry experts, BASE jumpers and Navy S.E.A.L.S. for underwater work. All of the different aspects of Xander's proficiency had to be worked out in pre-production. I'm a thrill-seeker myself, to some degree, and I really enjoyed the process.... I'd never been on a motocross bike before in my life, and on the first day I was doing jumps. To have the opportunity of going off and doing these things under the supervision of the best was a great opportunity. Ironically there wasn't a lot of weight training. You try to slim down, if anything, and play into the agility that Xander's character would need to be able to pull of all of his physical stunts. And you discover that during the training, your body starts to move differently. And then, when you actually start shooting, you're able to do things that you've never been able to do before."