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There are an awful lot of Bondisms in xXx - gadgets, stunts,
beautiful women, nasty baddies - but the difference is that
the hero is not the modern-era's ultra-cool (almost sedate)
Bond, but a full-on adrenalin freak who loves biffo, danger
and utterly hates authority.
Diesel looks the part, complete with tatts and bulging muscles,
and he is an actor this chap admires for several terrific
performances (Saving Private Ryan for one, Pitch Black and
he saved Fast and Furious from being a stinker).
In xXx he plays Xander Cage an up-yours character who pays
a smarmy anti-computer game congressman back by borrowing
his corvette and driving it off a Mt-Everest high bridge.
He, of course, parachutes to safety and is celebrating the
incident - caught live by his own pirate TV show's cameras
- when the authorities bust in and drag him away.
The car stunt will be his third-crime strikeout and he faces
a long time behind bars unless he agrees to help Augustus
Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) a top agent in the secretive NSA,
a US security force.
After a couple of testing warm-up missions, Cage gets to
test his skills for real in Prague, where a group called Anarchy
99 is creating mayhem.
It's Cage's job to infiltrate the group and then stop their
car-jacking racket, but once in he discovers that Anarchy
99 has a far deadlier mission to carry out.
For mine, xXx is breath of fresh air in the old spy genre
and despite my abundant - and possibly sick - love for James
(anyone but Pierce) Bond I reckon this guy edges him out.
It has attitude, is gritty, but still has a Bondesque humour.
Diesel is going to be a huge star and - the Lord be praised
- will be one who doesn't run like a chicken (sorry Mr Brosnan).
The video transfer of xXx is superb and the soundtrack will
throw your speakers into a frenzy.
You have to see xXx, the face of action heroes has changed.
Conclusion: 85% Extras: 75%
Continued: DVD details
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