xXx: The Return of Xander Cage

[TheVileOne]

oh no no no thats unmitigated garbage

I mean the XXX concept, with a decent script and the right lead, has the potential to be good

Not really. The concept in and of itself is sort of hackneyed. It's basically EXTREME James Bond. Even in the early 00s, the whole extreme attitude thing was sort of old hat at that point.

The idea was that James Bond was old hat and didn't fit in with the modern youth. So we needed an extreme, rock music loving, video game playing extreme sports star to replace him. They did it, and you know what it worked for one movie. XXX was a success. But then for whatever reason, they decided to go forward with a sequel without Vin Diesel and use Ice Cube instead. It bombed.

So they spent years trying to revive it with Vin Diesel instead, and here we are. This was created as his vehicle essentially.

You want to know what the XXX is with a good script and all that jazz? It's a good James Bond movie. Just without all the extreme sports business.

 

[Loki882]

Except the thing is, James Bond has done pretty much every kind of extreme sport that there is at one point or another:

-Skiing.
-Snowboarding.
-Motorcycle Racing.
-Car stunts.
-Scuba Diving.
-Surfing.
-Flying a freaking plane.
-Sky Diving.
-Etc.

He's done it all.

 

[TheVileOne]

Yeah, but Skyfall was still hailed as one of the best James Bond movies ever. The Bond movies got better when they realized it's not about trying to one up the last movie with the most ridiculous stunts and nonsense ever. They got better when they took Bond back to basics and stripped away a lot of the silliness.

If people enjoy XXX as just dumb fun action movies, all the power to ya. But let's not pretend that XXX could be rewritten to be some prestigious action movie franchise.

Again, the idea of making an extreme sports star as a globe trotting super spy is dumb because the extreme sports star thing is dumb and went out a long time ago. The whole EXTREME style became cliche in like the late 1990s.

 

[TheCommissioner]

EXTREEEEEEME

like Mountain Dew

 

[Loki882]

Play it like the F&F movies. A big, dumb, action franchise that's pure popcorn entertainment, and then maybe throw in a few actual themes/idea/character moments here or there.

We know that people will respond to movies like that already.

 

[TheVileOne]

Is this not basically exactly what XXX is? Or was at least? People responded to it and the first movie was a hit, but mainly because of Vin Diesel at the time.

 

[DrCosmic]

If people enjoy XXX as just dumb fun action movies, all the power to ya. But let's not pretend that XXX could be rewritten to be some prestigious action movie franchise.

Uh, I'm definitely pretending. First, I don't understand how one can NOT enjoy xXx as a dumb fun action movie, unless one is simply above such plebian frivolity. Second, the FnF definitely figured out how to give genuine heart to car stunts ("FAMILYgrumblegrumble"), doing something similar with non-car stunts doesn't seem beyond the pale. Third, if someone can embrace the idea that xXx is, at heart, a comedy, then it can be used to make points as profoundly as the most cutting edge comedy does.

That won't happen of course, but it's certainly a thing that could be done by interested parties.

 

[TheVileOne]

You're talking about XXX, not Lethal Weapon or Beverly Hills Cop.

I enjoy action movies that are good. They can be dumb, but not too dumb. Non-Stop with Liam Neeson is a good example of this. The Taken sequels, which are trash, are not.

I don't think you are going to use XXX as an action-comedy vehicle to make some profound points about society. The first movie definitely wasn't a comedy either. It was played fairly straight.

 

[JtheDreamer]

How did this movie even get made?

 

[TheVileOne]

The producers have been angling for this for about 10 years. XXX 2 failed so they tried to get back Vin Diesel for a third movie.

 

[DrCosmic]

You're talking about XXX, not Lethal Weapon or Beverly Hills Cop.

I enjoy action movies that are good. They can be dumb, but not too dumb. Non-Stop with Liam Neeson is a good example of this. The Taken sequels, which are trash, are not.

I don't think you are going to use XXX as an action-comedy vehicle to make some profound points about society. The first movie definitely wasn't a comedy either. It was played fairly straight.

I mean, it's mostly semantics. You say no one can, I say no one will. Same conclusion either way. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I remembered the first one, but looking at the trailer, and it looks like FnF, and those movies work because they know they shouldn't be taken seriously, just like a comedy. It's running on the same OS, even if it's a different genre on the surface. It's Buster Keaton for the 21st century. If the first movie was like "No, but for realz Xtreme James Bond. SRS BZNESS." I'll take your word for it, but this third movie is definitely not that.

 

[DrCosmic]

How did this movie even get made?

If you were Vin Disel, what movie would you make instead?

If you were a movie exec, and the star of a billion dollar revived franchise said he wanted to revive another franchise, would you be in or out?

 

[TheVileOne]

I mean, it's mostly semantics. You say no one can, I say no one will. Same conclusion either way. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I remembered the first one, but looking at the trailer, and it looks like FnF, and those movies work because they know they shouldn't be taken seriously, just like a comedy. It's running on the same OS, even if it's a different genre on the surface. It's Buster Keaton for the 21st century. If the first movie was like "No, but for realz Xtreme James Bond. SRS BZNESS." I'll take your word for it, but this third movie is definitely not that.

I mean your position is a bit puzzling when you don't actually remember the first movie. The first movie is where it arguably worked the most. It was an action movie, played fairly straight. You turned an extreme sports dude/adrenaline junkie into a government super spy. That was the concept, and it did well.

They waffled on the sequel and couldn't get Diesel back and instead recast him with Ice Cube. It's usually the mark of bad sequels when you toss out the original stars and try to replace them with other talents. No disrespect to Ice Cube, but no one was interested in replace Diesel as XXX at the time.

Now these movies aren't like gritty hard action thrillers like say Michael Mann. They are a bit on the cheesy side, but they weren't conceived as action comedy things.

 

[DrCosmic]

I guess my position is based more on the trailer for Return of Xander Cage and the FnF franchise, whose revival seems to have led to this. It is not "a bit" on the cheesy side. It seems to be unapologetically over the top. I can't look at this trailer and say "Oh, they're playing it fairly straight." I mean, does what we know about this movie remind you more of the first two xXx films, or the later FnF franchise?

 

[TheVileOne]

I guess my position is based more on the trailer for Return of Xander Cage and the FnF franchise, whose revival seems to have led to this. It is not "a bit" on the cheesy side. It seems to be unapologetically over the top. I can't look at this trailer and say "Oh, they're playing it fairly straight." I mean, does what we know about this movie remind you more of the first two xXx films, or the later FnF franchise?

Played straight from the fact that it's not an action comedy, and they weren't winking at the camera letting the audience in on the joke about how stupid everything is. Additionally, Rob Cohen I think has a bit of an ego and self-inflated sense of his work, even his action movies.

Bond movies can be very over the top as well, but they are still played fairly straight.

 

[DrCosmic]

Played straight from the fact that it's not an action comedy, and they weren't winking at the camera letting the audience in on the joke about how stupid everything is. Additionally, Rob Cohen I think has a bit of an ego and self-inflated sense of his work, even his action movies.

Bond movies can be very over the top as well, but they are still played fairly straight.

A huge part of comedy is playing something funny straight through, right? Going back, Buster Keaton was known for being straight faced. I thin this was the appeal of some of the older Bond movies too, but the new ones because they're not built to be laughed at (like comedies are), the ridiculous things (like the subway crash of Skyfall) are grating instead of thrilling. I'll continue to defer to you on xXx 1, if it was supposed to be taken serious, so be it. Maybe that's part of why it didn't catch on. But this movie? You can't take it seriously at all.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I don't care about SLJ reprising his role as (Gibbons? I think, I don't remember) in this one. I'd rather him go back to wearing the eye patch as Nick Fury again.

 

[DrCosmic]

No one cares. It's like the continuity in 22 Jump Street. It's perfect because it shows they're committing to something ridiculous. There is absolutely no one, no one who is excited about [blackout]Ice Cube returning[/blackout] but it works, and it'll be awesome, because it shows commitment to the bit, which makes it all the more over the top hilarious. Maybe just to me, but I doubt it's just me that will be positively affected by love and respect for a movie that few liked and no one remembers.

 

[samsnee]

I'm guessing they are trying to turn this into a F&F franchise where they bring different characters from both movies.

 

[Wildcard]

I'm guessing they are trying to turn this into a F&F franchise where they bring different characters from both movies.

Imo, I don't think it's gonna end up working out that way. This just doesn't seem like it's going to break out and be a smash hit.

 

[Octoberist]

I rematched the first xXX, hoping that it was cheesy fun (I don't remember too much of it).

I think my problem with the first film is the tone - Xander is often a humorless character. If he was more self-deprecating or plays it straight with dry humor it would've been a funner movie.

But because Vin takes the character so serious, it doesn't pan out that way. There's a lack of self awareness to Cage's character that, he thinks HE'S REALLY COOL AND FUNNY when he's not. He's the geek who wears sunglasses indoors. Since there's no irony behind his character, he's no fun.

 

[Wildcard]

Welcome to virtually every Vin Diesel performance.

 

[Mysteryman]

I won't be seeing this.
Trailers and ads are underwhelming.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Oddly, I think I'm more interested in seeing this dumb movie than I am in seeing "Dom go bad" in War for the Planet of the Fate of the Fast and the Furious 8 or whatever the hell it's called.

 

[Chesterfield]

Except the thing is, James Bond has done pretty much every kind of extreme sport that there is at one point or another:

-Skiing.
-Snowboarding.
-Motorcycle Racing.
-Car stunts.
-Scuba Diving.
-Surfing.
-Flying a freaking plane.
-Sky Diving.
-Etc.

He's done it all.

Lest we forget the tsunami surfing lol