There’s this joke that goes around. Why do the cars in The Fast and The Furious franchise never stop for petrol? Because they’re Diesel-powered. Vin Diesel brings his star/producer power to another (potential) franchise of his, xXx (2002) after not appearing in the 2005 sequel. As with his other franchise, he pulls together a cast of supporting stars to add a sense of diversity and worldliness to this particular universe where fearless adrenaline junkies who pull off crazy stunts can become super-spies. After being out of the game for over a decade and a half, Xander Cage (Diesel) is tracked down and re-recruited to chase after a MacGuffin - here called Pandora’s Box which can bring satellites down - that has been supposedly stolen by a team of rouge xXx agents led by Xiang (Donnie Yen). So Cage has to put together his own team including driver Tennyson (Rory McCann), sniper Adele (Ruby Rose) and a DJ(?)/distraction Nicks (Kris Wu) while getting tech support from a geeky-nerdy fan-girl, Becky (Nina Dobrev). While things are not what they seem, the plot and story is surprisingly straight-forward with action ruling the roost for more than half the movie. Then again, actions and adventure of a slightly brainless manner is what you’d want from a movie like this (so don’t complain about plot) with some truly spectacular and outlandish set-pieces like using skis in a tropical jungle, using motorbikes over rivers and seas, foot racing and fighting through heavy traffic, or that gun-ballet with Adele and Serena (Deepika Padukone) which might attest to the gun-skill of those girls, but is also utterly ridiculous to pull off in real-life. At least they take choreography really well. It’s all in the name of ‘cool’ (or whatever word passes for that feeling…) Even then, director DJ Caruso manages to wrangle the numerous stars giving each their moment to shine be it in action or performance, properly utilising the skills of such stars like Donnie Yen and Tony Jaa to full use, even if the editing leaves a little to be desired. Alternatively, for equally exciting and slightly dumb fun, you could try Jackie Chan’s Kung Fu Yoga. My review is here. Stars Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, Rory McCann, Tony Gonzalez, with Toni Collette and Samuel L Jackson Directed by DJ Caruso Rating: ***/5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here.
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