xXx: State of the Union
April. 29,2005 PG-13Darius Stone's criminal record and extreme sports obsession make him the perfect candidate to be the newest XXX agent. He must save the U.S. government from a deadly conspiracy led by five-star general and Secretary of Defense George Deckert.
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Reviews
Pretty Good
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
It was an improvement if compared to the first xXx. the action was better than the first one and also the graphics were better. Though the story line was not that great just like the previous one. They should really work on their script creating skills. The start was amazing and was looking that it can be a good movie but as we came nearer and nearer to end the movie started getting worse and worse. Whoever wrote it might have to do lot of editing for the ending and doesn't look that he was able to find the perfect one he was looking for.Overall by experience of watching it was average. I hope they work on making a better one. As the concept on which the series is based is not that bad. It just need a good script.
The movie beginning is not too bad, but very soon the obnoxiousness of the hero starts to grate on my nerves.Attitude, yeah. They certainly cranked it up! In the worst way! Seriously, it's embarrassing. The sexism, the macho behaviour, the gratuitous putting down of the nerd guy (despite the fact that he provided all the needed tool for the job), are some of the worst I've ever seen in any movie...According to this movie, to be "A MAN" you must use plenty of guns, act violently -and without any brains-, love BIG cars, talk "tough" and all the absurd -obsolete- stereotypes you can imagine. PATHETIC.And to be respected as "A WOMAN", you must be a top model and show that you know about BIG cars as much as the hero (so, she's in fact a man?). DOUBLE PATHETIC. (Seriously, that scene in the garage with the luxury cars was super cringy)Too bad because despite being really over the top, the story is not that bad (for a B movie) and has some twists that are more clever than you'd expect. But it does not excuse the obnoxious characters.
The action spy sequel returned without its leading man as Xander Cage was reportedly killed. The NSA is under attack and Agent Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) is a prime target as men from his old team are being murdered. He recruits a new member to the xXx program, Darius Stone (Ice Cube), a marine lieutenant from Gibbons old team that was imprisoned. After arranging an escape, Gibbons informs Stone of the new scheme. Stone uses his training and ability at extreme transportation to steal information and elude the authorities. Agent Kyle Steel (Scott Speedman) is on his tale as Stone finds himself quickly on the wrong side of the law and questioning of authority. A plot is revealed that the Secretary of Defense George Deckert (Willem Dafoe) is eliminated the team members and changing the direction of the country. These movies are never about the plot but State of the Union spends a significant amount of time on the political intrigue and Ice Cube's espionage. Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com
I wasn't the world's biggest fan of the original xXx, mainly because I can't stand Vin Diesel, the biggest plank of wood to grace a modern cinema screen. When I heard he wouldn't be returning for this sequel, I was overjoyed; however, this film is much the same as the last one, and not in a good way. It's cheesy, preposterous and frequently unbelievable; if you don't mind these things you'll probably enjoy it. I know I did.Ice Cube is the miscast anti-hero of the film, and to be honest he's not a very interesting character; then again, his scripted lines are all cheesy. His only real outstanding scene is the bit where he breaks out of prison, where you get the feeling he's a real powerhouse. He kind of fades away after that. The rest of the film follows a pseudo James Bond-style plot, with lots of chases and stormings of buildings; there's a neat speedboat bit, some cool car chases and more. The flimsy plot involves a corrupt Secretary of Defence attempting to take over the White House with his own private army, and Willem Dafoe pops up, typecast once again as the sneering villain – but then he is good at it.This film's action pushes the boundaries of the low certificate, and there are some really brutal fight sequences with cracking sound effects – the kind you hear in a violent Jet Li flick. Samuel L. Jackson has always been good value for money, and he's given a slightly bigger role in this sequel, although he's still not in it much; still, he makes his character imposing and cool, as always. The ending, with the kidnapped president on the bullet train, is even cheesier than the ending of UNDER SIEGE 2! The CGI effects of the train and car make this look like a computer game, similar to weak moments in I, ROBOT. It's still fun, though; just disengage your brain, as, like TRANSPORTER 2, this is a modern Hollywood blockbuster that swaps integrity for excitement.