The other day I reviewed John Wick 2, the sequel to (duh) John Wick (if you’re curious, click here for that review).  Long story short: Though I enjoyed the original film, I hated the sequel… even though the Rottentomatoes.com score among critics and audiences was quite high, I found the movie monotonous, repetitious, and ultimately incredibly boring for something that was purported to be an “action” film.

Today, I review another sequel, actually the third film in a series but second to feature Vin Diesel in the title role (I’ll explain in a moment), xXx: Return of Xander Cage.

The original 2002 film xXx was, to me anyway, an enjoyable “modern” take on the James Bond superspy.  Back then, the X-Games were becoming a big thing and it seemed everyone was into doing “adrenaline” pumping stunts.  Bungee jumping, extreme skiing/snowboarding, parasailing, etc. etc. etc.

Into that setting came xXx, a film that, if memory serves, opened cleverly with a pseudo-James Bondian type spy trying to infiltrate a party filled with these young adrenaline junkies.  He’s sniffed out almost immediately and then snuffed out almost as quickly.

We then are introduced to Agent Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) who realizes that the “old” superspy won’t get the job done.  That what is needed is someone young, someone who is comfortable in the adrenaline junkie world.

Enter Vin Diesel’s Xander Cage.

As far as superspy films go, I thought xXx was a decent piece of entertainment which had its tongue sufficiently in cheek to work.  Vin Diesel, not quite yet the big star of the Fast and Furious films as he is now (at that point, only the very first Fast and Furious film had been released and the second of the franchise, the one not featuring Vin Diesel at all, would be released the following year).

Like Fast and Furious, Vin Diesel would skip this movie’s sequel, the 2005 xXx: State of the Union, which would hint that his character was killed and have Ice Cube come in as the “new” xXx agent, Darius Stone.

I never saw that film but from the reviews, it would appear I didn’t miss all that much.

It appeared the franchise was essentially dead after that point but, because of the box office rise of one Vin Diesel, one must never count out any of his previous projects.

So, twelve years after the release of xXx: State of the Union appears xXx: Return of Xander Cage and it features (you wouldn’t guess in a million years) the return of Vin Diesel’s Xander Cage!

…and…

…its not all that bad.

The film stuck to what made the first one a decent bit of entertainment, even though the whole “X-Games” and “adrenaline junkie” thing isn’t as big a thing as it was when the original film was made.

Further, Vin Diesel no longer looks like the young new guy and, perhaps fittingly, there is no attempt to have him blend in with the “young” crowds like was done in the first film.

The plot of xXx 3 (let’s just abbreviate it to this from now on, OK?) involves a computer device capable of bringing down satellites onto Earth and, thus, using them as a tool for assassination.

I know what you’re thinking: Aren’t there like, a zillion easier ways to assassinate people than to bring down satellites on them?

Of course there are but in this case, if you’re willing to accept this whooper of an absurdity and let the film go, you’ll have a reasonably fun time with it, though I grant you when its all over xXx 3 is nothing more (and for some/many I’m sure a lot less) than a mindless time killer.

Add an all star-action cast, a fun/surprising cameo appearance at the movie’s end, and delightful turns by Toni Collette (almost every scene she’s in she steals the show) and Nina Dobrev (who plays a somewhat ditzy xXx version of Q) and you have a decent time killer and not much else.

(A sidenote: This is the third film this year that’s had Ruby Rose in a smallish role in it, the first two being Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and the film I reviewed before this one, John Wick 2… she’s had a hell of a year appearing in these “B” action films!)

Look, this movie ain’t no Citizen Kane but, if you have a free afternoon and want to park your mind on “Neutral” and let things go, you could do far worse than see what’s up with Xander Cage.