Top cast, same story

Vin Diesel returns to the xXx franchise in this movie as the thrill-seeking sports enthusiast, stuntman and rebellious-athlete-turned-spy, known as Xander Cage.

Despite having an entire film dedicated to the character’s death, the franchise just simply doesn’t work without him and so Paramount has done the obvious and resurrected him. xXx: Return of Xander focuses on our hero coming out of self-imposed exile and a faked demise.

The daredevil operative must race against time to recover a sinister weapon known as Pandora’s Box, a device that controls every military satellite in the world. Although he’s offered everything he needs to complete the mission, including a team of special forces operatives, he, of course, rejects them and instead compiles his own team.

They track down the box-grabbing rebel organisation’s whereabouts in the Philippines and zero in on them. However, what Xander learns about the rebel organisation will test his loyalty towards the Triple X organisation and his loyalty towards completing the task at hand.

xXx: Return of Xander will surely satisfy most of the fans of previous instalments with its stunning action scenes, stunts, heavy-metal soundtrack and good-natured witty banter. The movie even features a diverse and multi-talented cast, such as Deepika Padukone (Indian expat favourite), Nina Dobrev, Samuel L. Jackson and Tony Jaa.

However, as I’ve learned from the experience of reviewing movies for FilmWeekly, good actors don’t necessarily equate to good movies. Too many directors, in my opinion, cast a group of quality stars hoping the finished product will not end up as a run-of-the mill cliché but instead become an exceptional cinematic creation.

Unfortunately, the latest Triple X movie fails miserably if that was the goal. xXx lacks that certain seduction that the children in school used to joke about when saying out the letters. In comparison to previous instalments, xXx is uninventive.

While the CGI used for the stunts and landscapes is jawdropping, the plotline is unoriginal and rather repetitive. xXx can also be compared to the Fast and the Furious franchise, which Vin Diesel also stars in. Despite having so many movies, that series still manages to find unique plotlines.

With that being said, xXx still appeals because of its familiarity. It is a good old fashioned cheesy movie, starring familiar faces and a plot line to match in which the audience knows exactly what they are getting without having to think too much about it.

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