xXx
2002 · Directed by Rob Cohen
Original language: English
- action
- adventure
- thriller
- crime
- drama
The story
Xander Cage is your standard adrenaline junkie with no fear and a lousy attitude. When the US Government "recruits" him to go on a mission, he's not exactly thrilled. His mission: to gather information on an organization that may just be planning the destruction of the world, led by the nihilistic Yorgi.
What it’s like
Bright, saturated daylight and glossy night-city neon, with the camera rarely sitting still: swooping crane shots, quick handheld snap-zooms, and slow-motion sweeps across snowy rooftops and Prague's stone bridges. The palette leans on warm amber and cold steel blue, and the sound is a loud, percussive rock-and-hip-hop soundtrack that pulses under every chase and stunt, with brief pockets of tinny silence before each set piece. It is a loud, cocky, sun-glossed action spectacle, a sports-car-and-snowboard fantasy that plays like a Saturday-afternoon blockbuster with a wink. The pacing is relentless, with stunts stacked on stunts and little room to breathe, and the emotional register stays playful and swaggering. Violence is frequent and stylised: gunfights, fistfights, car crashes and explosions, with some blood but little lingering gore, and a few brief sexual innuendos. Its arc follows a reckless loner grudgingly becoming a team player. It suits a rowdy weekend night or a mindless popcorn watch, and it is for viewers who want big, fast, unembarrassed action rather than anything gentle or quiet.
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