xXx: State of the Union (2005)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

Lee Tamahori

Writers (WGA):

Rich Wilkes (characters)
Simon Kinberg (written by)

Release Date:

29 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Prepare for the next level

Plot:

Darius Stone, a new agent in the XXX program, is sent to Washington, DC to defuse a power struggle amongst national leaders.

Plot Keywords:

Washington D.C. | NSA | Exploding Car | Jump From Bridge | Helicopter

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ice Cube	...	Darius Stone / XXX
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Agent Augustus Gibbons
Willem Dafoe	...	General George Deckert
Scott Speedman	...	Agent Kyle Steele
Peter Strauss	...	President James Sanford
Xzibit	...	Zeke
Michael Roof	...	Agent Toby Lee Shavers
Sunny Mabrey	...	Charlie Mayweather
Nona Gaye	...	Lola Jackson
John G. Connolly	...	Lt. Alabama 'Bama' Cobb
Ramon De Ocampo	...	Agent Meadows (as Ramón De Ocampo)
Barry Sigismondi	...	Bull
Michael Don Evans	...	Conductor
David Rountree	...	Agent
Ned Schmidtke	...	General Jack Pettibone

Also Known As:

xXx 2: The Next Level (Australia) (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title) (Malaysia: English title) (UK)
xXx²: The Next Level (Singapore: English title) (UK)
Cold Circle & Intersection (Philippines: English title) (review title)
xXx Squared (USA) (working title)
xXx² (USA) (working title)
xXx²: State of the Union (USA) (working title)
xXx: The Next Level (Philippines: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence and some language.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Canada:14A | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (re-rating) | France:U | Malaysia:U | Malaysia:U (cinema release) | South Korea:12 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A (cut) | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG (original rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Alameda Naval Air Station, Alameda, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Two scripts were written for consideration. One by Rich Wilkes involves pirates in Southeast Asia and the other, by Simon Kinberg, involves a plot set in Washington D.C. The Simon Kinberg script was selected. Open casting calls in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area were made on 19 August 2004 and 26 August 2004. Shooting will start on 14 September 2004 and go through 1 October 2004. Rob Cohen had earlier suggested that that both scripts may be made, with the one not used for XXX2 becoming XXX3.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The actors say the President's Bullet Train runs out of the city along I-95 to the north-northwest. I-95 does not go through Washington (rather around it), and it goes northeast from the city through Maryland or south-southwest from the city through Virginia.

Quotes:

Darius Stone: Wars come and go, but my soldier stay eternal.
Agent Augustus Gibbons: I like that. Who said it? Jefferson? Patton?
Darius Stone: Tupac.

Movie Connections:

References Live and Let Die (1973)

Soundtrack:

Victory

First 40 mins SUCKED...The rest? Who knows.

I walked out after the first 40 mins. It was just too much to take. I have a very high tolerance for "bad" films(I really dug the first xXx) and have only walked out three time before (Dungeons and Dragons, Bad Company, and The Musketeer). This ego driven piece of garbage was just intolerable. Every time Ice Cube (a man I quite like) mugged for the camera I cringed. And Willem Dafoe is SHAMELESS. After 40mins of excruciating dialogue and NO PLOT I had to leave. I'm sure this movie is about something and there's some cool stunts, I just wasn't about to waste the rest of my evening in hopes that the film got better.

So to be fair I can't really give this a review but I can say that life is short and sometimes we just gotta put our foot down and not take the crap the studios are feeding us. Because this was clearly a movie made on autopilot. Boo!