xXx (2002)

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writer (WGA):

Rich Wilkes (written by)

Release Date:

9 August 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

If you want someone to save the world, make sure it's someone who likes the world as it is.

Plot:

Xander Cage is an extreme sports athelete recruited by the government on a special mission.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Extreme Sports | Agent | Terrorist | Weapon Of Mass Destruction

Awards:

4 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Vin Diesel	...	Xander Cage
Asia Argento	...	Yelena
Marton Csokas	...	Yorgi
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Agent Augustus Gibbons
Michael Roof	...	Agent Toby Lee Shavers
Richy Müller	...	Milan Sova
Werner Daehn	...	Kirill
Petr Jákl	...	Kolya (as Petr Jakl)
Jan Pavel Filipensky	...	Viktor (as Jan Filipensky)
Tom Everett	...	Senator Dick Hotchkiss
Danny Trejo	...	El Jefe
Thomas Ian Griffith	...	Agent Jim McGrath
Eve	...	J.J.
Leila Arcieri	...	Jordan King
William Hope	...	Agent Roger Donnan

Also Known As:

Triple X (USA) (informal English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, non-stop action sequences, sensuality, drug content and language.

Runtime:

124 min | 132 min (unrated director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Spanish | Russian | Czech

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:Unrated (director's cut) | Taiwan:R-12 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:12 | Canada:14+ (TV rating) | Brazil:14 | India:UA | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Austria:14 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:18A (uncut DVD version) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (director's cut) | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) (director's cut) | Singapore:PG (original rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12A (original rating) (cut) | UK:12 (video rating) (2003) (cut) | UK:15 (director's cut) | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Auburn, California, USA

Company:

Revolution Studios

Trivia:

In one scene, two cops who are heard speaking in Czech are saying, quite clearly, something along the lines of "How's it going?" - "Oh, it's cold as s**t." - "Yeah, f**king weather." The dialogue is not subtitled.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the "care package" takes Xander to the basement to show his tools to him, a wedding ring is visible in some shots of the "care package's" hands, but not in others.

Quotes:

Xander Cage: Koyla, Yorgi's younger brother, happens to be an action sports fanatic. So naturally, he's a fan. But, when you kill a bottle of Vodka in three swigs, and you're gonna talk too much.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Homicide (2003)

Soundtrack:

Are We Cuttin'

Bond Deconstruction

This starts with a man wearing a tux getting killed by some Slavic gangsters at a Nu-Metal gig . It's never mentioned on screen but the implication is that the dead man is Bond, James Bond and throughout the movie where treated to an alternative universe where the world is no longer saved by sophisticated suave secret agents but saved by a loud crass extreme sports loving American

Did I use the word " treated " in the above paragraph ? Maybe that's too much of a strong word because XXX isn't much of a treat . Okay I disagree with many of the people claiming this was the worst movie of 2002 but Rob Cohen is a very shallow director while Vin Diesel is a laughably bad actor who makes Sylvester Stallone look like Anthony Hopkins in comparison . What compounds this problem is the amount of homage the movie pays to the Bond series . Isn't this movie trying to do away with Bond ? So why does Xander Cage borrow lines like " The things I do for my country " which sounds a lot like " The things I do for England " from YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE . all throughout the movie we're treated ( Again that's maybe not the right word ) to little nods and winks to Fleming's superhero which makes the movie end up being a 21st century homage to JB and I doubt if this was the original intension . The story structure mirrors that of the franchise of cramming in several different locations because it seemed like a good idea at the time , so much so you find yourself forgetting what the original plot was , there's a femme fatale and the bad guy wants to start effectively world war three . Seen it all before

XXX is dumb , loud and spectacular when it needed some wit and a better leading man . If your only requirement in a movie is stunts and explosions you'll no doubt enjoy it but I do prefer substance in a movie