xXx: State of the Union (2005)

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 | Helicopter | Violence | Bullet Train

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:

To build a so-called "stealth tank" for one of the sequences in the movie, the production designers took a used truck chassis, shortened it and placed a Freightliner diesel truck engine onto it. "Stealth" panels were then placed on top of it to give the tank its unique look. Tracks were taken from another piece of heavy equipment and fitted onto the "tank". Even a double barrel turret was constructed that could counter rotate.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lola gives Darius the keys to the blue Mustang, you can clearly see that there is no tattoo on the back of Darius's neck. But in the next scene in the car, as he is driving away the xxx tattoo is there.

Quotes:

[to Gibbons]
Gen. George Octavius Deckert: I don't know what's more pathetic - a man that plays chess with himself, or a man that doesn't see he's already lost.

Movie Connections:

References Jerry Maguire (1996)

Soundtrack:

Oh No

Needs better action-directing

Action without brains is actually a genre i have nothing against. As long as the action sequences are well made that is. "xXx: State of the Union" is a fair try in the genre but ultimately falls short.

The plot is as ridiculous as in the first movie. The NSA-agent Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) is once again looking in weird places trying to find a new agent that can break the rules and succeed. This time he finds Darius Stone (Ice Cube) in a military prison. Stone is an ex Navy Seal who will help Gibbons fight off a rogue part of the US Military trying to dispose of the president.

Seriously, no one watches these movies for the plot anyway. So that the plot is ridiculous and cheesy is beside the point. No one watches this for the acting either. So that Ice Cube is not as much an actor as a walking scowl is ALSO beside the point. He does about as good a job as Vin Diesel did anyway. What is NOT beside the point though is the fact that "xXx: State of the Union" employs the same method of action filming as many other Hollywood-movies of late. You know the method: "move the camera exceptionally close and shake it like if the camera-man was a spastic". I know that this is to hide the fact that Ice Cube doesn't know how to fight. Still it's incredibly irritating! Also the lack of logic is too evident at times. Like Ice Cube driving a sports car 360km/h on a train track with his tires torn off... Seriously.

Otherwise this had some potential. The technical quality is great, the movie looks really expensive. It has a lot of fun gadgets and crappy one-liners. And the speed of this movie is absolutely insane. Right from the beginning Lee Tamahori steps on it without ever looking back. So even though i can't say i really enjoyed this movie it was never boring, there is always something happening on screen. But the flaws in mostly the action department as well as the complete lack of logic disturbs the experience. It's still a lot better than the first movie though. I found the first one to be complete garbage, while this is still at least somewhat entertaining at times.

So in the end i think this "James Bond on steroids" will probably attract a lot of 15-yearolds that like when things keep moving and lights keep flashing. People who like to see a plot and at least some traces of logic might want to stay away though. It could have been the brainless action movie of the year, but it desperately needs some better action-directing for that. I rate it 3/10.