xXx: Return of Xander Cage

xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017)

43% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 89 reviews)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: D.J. Caruso

Starring: Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose

From: Plenty of different companies

I saw this movie Sunday afternoon, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Find out why below:

When 2017 began, I did not set a date in my calendar to see this motion picture extravaganza; after all, I hadn't seen the first two movies in the series. However, when people went wild for this movie and said things that were appealing to me, I figured it'd be worth a shot to finally catch up on what may be (depending on how it does overseas; the box office performance in the United States has not been “blockbuster”) a franchise. The first two movies were really stupid and yet despite their faults I could at least rate them average due to unintentional humor and some entertaining action scenes.

Well, if they were going to do something wacky like bring back a movie for its first sequel in almost 12 full years, they might as well “borrow” from the Fast & Furious playbook and how a few movies in it became a gigantic success. Now, two of the production companies are Chinese and I have noted in other reviews that this has become a more common trend with Hollywood movies as of the past few years. Whether or not that should be a thing... that's a huge topic which should be discussed elsewhere, instead of in this review.

For those that love Fast Five and Furious Six, this movie should be very appealing to you. It has an attractive multi-ethnic cast, over the top action scenes, a hogwash plot, lavish locations, a hip vibe, and plenty of comedic moments. This is right in your wheelhouse. The actual plot has to deal with a weapon literally named Pandora's Box-it can disable satellites and cause them to crash to Earth-& various people wish to have it, including Diesel and his squad. That's all you need to know. People everywhere have been posting big spoilers and many details about what happens in the movie. I won't be doing that as there are a few things I wish I did not know about beforehand.

This is the sort of movie where a rather attractive woman (Nina Dobrev) is an expert computer hacker because she wears big nerd glasses. And, there's someone whose main skillset is "being a DJ". It's absurd, yet gleefully so. It's greatly entertaining and while not all of the action is shot the best (a systemic problem all throughout Hollywood, as I've mentioned plenty of times before), the movie is a lot of fun and you shouldn't take it seriously at all. It's cool people doing a lot of cool things, and there are various references that old-school action fans should pick up on and love. As I've said before, I happen to be a mark for entertainment where disparate people get together and use their special skills to overcome the odds. In addition, everyone in the main cast has a chance to shine. Heck, former American football player Tony Gonzalez even has a memorable role.

The movie was a clear number 2 at the domestic box office but I hope it does well overseas, as I would enjoy seeing these characters again in the future. This was escapist entertainment; considering what happened on Friday, January 20th besides this movie being released... I imagine there were plenty of people who wished to have a good time on that day. I say that no matter the day or the occasion, those that love the over the top dopey action bonanza, this is a must-see. I say that Donnie MF'ing Yen is the highlight, but whether or not you agree is up to you.