By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald Rating: * * *)
Xander Cage was a world-famous extreme sports star who was not very interested in saving the world until the US National Security Agency selected him to become special agent XXX (spelled xXx). After passing a series of tests that have been elaborately set up
by the NSA boss, Cage/xXx is sent to Prague to infiltrate a group of militants called Anarchy 99.
Given the present US Administration's worldview, the idea of our saviour being a macho action hero like Vin Diesel (you've gotta love that name for a testosterone monkey) is probably not such an unlikely scenario.
Nor perhaps is the prospect of the free world's security being in the hands of a man such as NSA chief Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson). But when the bad guys are led by a Shortland Street star hey, that's a step too far. However, here is Marton Csokas as the nasty former Czech secret serviceman, Yorgi.
It hasn't taken critics too long to figure out that this is James Bond for the 00s: for 007, read xXx, with the bravado and one-liners but minus the taste for the finer cars, suits and watches in life. Barely a moment of the two hours passes without someone getting killed or something being blown up in a series of impressive stunts.
Gibbons can be paired up with M and, yes, there's a techno geek to rival Q. Toby Shavers (Michael Roof) provides our man with an impressive arsenal of toys (the car is an all-American Pontiac GTO). There is an xXx girl, the KGB agent Yelena (Asia Argento), who is also trying to stop Yorgi destroy the world by poisoning everyone with a gas called Silent Night.
(Russians and Americans joining hands to save the world from an international terrorist who has chemical weapons of mass destruction? Hmmm, can't see that one playing too well in Peoria right now.)
And yep, just like Bond, there's a sequel in the works.
DVD, video rental: April 3
DVD features: movie (124min); commentary with director Rob Cohen; xXx: A Filmmaker's Diary (40-minute, two-part documentary on making the film) 10 deleted scenes; short features on set design, hot-rods, Vin Diesel, visual effects; trailers; Gavin Rossdale music video; cast and crew filmographies.
