XXX: Return of Xander Cage sees the United States NSA practically groveling to Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) so he might assist them on what might be his most dangerous mission yet. What does that mean for him? Danger, stunts, guns, and maybe a bit of partying. What does that mean for us? Action! Action! Action!
This installment of XXX shows Vin Diesel in what looks like his most comfortable role ever. D.J. Caruso may have directed the film but Vin produced it, which is probably the main reason why you could see him beaming in every scene. Xander pulls off all the cool stunts, gets all the girls, and has his fair share of takedowns.
It’s a good feeling being able to see an action film where the casting feels more organic and diverse than structured. For example, Jane (Toni Collette), the blonde haired blue-eyed female is the antagonist. Serena (Deepika Padukone, pictured above), the main heroine, is a Bollywood star. Xander might have assembled the most diverse stealth team in film.
Throw in Tony Jaa, Donnie Yen, and Rory McCann, and you can see how this movie is littered with action at every turn. I would be remiss as a fútbol fan to not mention the appearance from Neymar. The cool thing about that is he isn’t expected to really do anything but be Neymar. Throw in a role for NFL great Tony Gonzalez and Vin’s buddy, Latin recording artist Nicky Jam, and we have ourselves a party.
With any film involving Vin Diesel, you’ll lose count of how many cheesy lines you’ll hear. He’s not selfish though, he shares them with his co-stars, but please believe he has the most.
But thankfully, the copious amounts of action make up for whatever horrible line you may hear (and for the record, they’re all lower quality than “I live my life a quarter-mile at a time”). From skiing down a hill through a forest, to skateboarding down a main road, to a fist fight in the middle of a highway, you’ll see more stunts, parkour, and martial arts than you could imagine.
Because of this, I feel comfortable giving XXX: Return of Xander Cage an 8 out of 10. The soundtrack is fun, the characters are fun, and above all, you can tell the actors are having fun. There are more fight scenes than explosions so you won’t feel Michael Bay-ish while watching (which is a very good thing).
-Jon J.