xXx: Return of Xander Cage movie review

It’s been twelve years since the last sequel of xXx and who would have thought that it’s going back after more than a decade in cinemas with Vin Diesel reprising his role as Xander Cage. It’s a good thing Vin Diesel reprised his role in this spy action movie because we might forget about it since we already identified him for Fast & Furious movie franchise.

 

Photo credit: Columbia Pictures

When I was invited to watch it, I am not sure how will this impress me. There were already lots of spy action wannabes and I am not sure how will this fit since there is already Mission: Impossible. But xXx is a different breed of spy action.

In a way, they followed suit after Dirty Dozen just like last year’s Suicide Squad. Xander Cage and Darius Stone (played by Ice Cube in xXx: State Of The Union last 2005) are both convicted felons before recruited by NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons (played by Samuel L. Jackson).

The movie is a direct sequel to last two movies since Gibbons is the only recurring character that appeared in all three movies. What made this movie unique was the diversity of the cast. xXx now has diverse cast like Donnie Yen and Kris Wu from China, Tony Jaa from Thailand and Deepika Padukone from India. Each of these countries is known for doing action movies especially Donnie Yen since he is from Hong Kong where all the martial arts movies are made. Kris Wu also made a good addition to the cast so it will also be appealing to the Asianovela fangirls.

The movie also shows inclusivity since the women here can do action stunts. I like Ruby Rose’s character as a sniper. Deepika’s character is like a female version of Xander Cage. This will also show Filipinos that Indian women are also attractive and beautiful. The cast themselves are attractive and good looking. I never thought that comedian Toni Collete can also be as tough and has a commanding presence in this movie.

Speaking of action, you can tell that there is influence of Asian action stunts especially with Donnie Yen and Tony Jaa.  Both have done action movies in their respective countries. Donnie Yen has years of experience in Hong Kong and he shows how he did it here than in Rogue One. Tony Jaa is known for his muay thai movie Ong Bak.

The movie is also good to watch in IMAX 3D. It shows the action scenes in wide screen and there are 3D scenes that can be immersive.

xXx: Return of Xander Cage is a good movie to start with if ever there is a sequel to follow. It opens January 18 in Philippine cinemas ahead of U.S. cinemas. For more new and good movie reviews, follow this blog and like L.E.N.S. blogs on Facebook.