XXx

xXx
xXx movie poster
Directed by	Rob Cohen
Produced by	Neal H. Moritz Associate Producer: David Minkowski Michelle Purple Matthew Stillman Co-Producer: Creighton Bellinger Derek Dauchy Executive Producer: Vin Diesel Todd Garner Arne Schmidt George Zakkutive
Written by	Rich Wilkes
Starring	Vin Diesel Asia Argento Marton Csokas Samuel L. Jackson William Hope
Music by	Randy Edelman
Cinematography	Dean Semler
Editing by	Chris Lebenzon Joel Negron Paul Rubell
Studio	Revolution Studios Original Film
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	August 9, 2002 (U.S.)
Running time	124 min. 132 min. (director's cut)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$70,000,000 US (est.)
Gross revenue	$277,448,382 US
Followed by	xXx: State of the Union

xXx, pronounced "Triple X", is a 2002 action film starring Vin Diesel in the lead role as Xander Cage, a thrill seeking extreme sports enthusiast, stuntman and rebellious anarchist turned reluctant spy for the National Security Agency who is sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate a group of potential terrorists in Eastern Europe. xXx also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Marton Csokas, Asia Argento, Michael Roof, Leila Arcieri, Tom Everett and Danny Trejo.

The film received mixed reviews but well received by fans of action movies at the time of its release, and also by those who enjoyed the idea of "James Bond for Generation Y". It was also a financial success for the studios. The film has however not been as well received since and currently has a rather average rating of 47% on Rotten Tomatoes.^[1]

Plot

An NSA agent on a mission infiltrates the concert where Rammstein is performing only to be killed by an operative of Anarchy 99: a rebellious Eastern European underground group. After losing one of their own, NSA operative Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) gets the OK to run a project to find the right person to infiltrate Anarchy 99; since conventional NSA agents are too obvious to the ex-military Anarchy 99, Gibbons feels that a more brutal style of agent is called for in this instance to escape detection.

Xander Cage, a.k.a. xXx (Vin Diesel), is a law-breaking extreme sports enthusiast, with a propensity for rebellious behavior. After crashing a state senator's Corvette for banning violent video games run by Senator Dick Hotchkiss (Tom Everett), his hideout is raided by a SWAT Team and he is tranquilized.

Similar to the other criminals that have been rounded up, Gibbons has a series of dangerous tasks for xXx, to see if "he is up to the job", which include putting him in a diner about to be robbed- xXx quickly realising that the diner is a fake due to various clues- before dropping xXx in a cocaine-producing area of rural Colombia, where Xander is captured. His hands and feet are tied up and he is gagged and tortured by El Jefe (Danny Trejo). Xander manages to break free and defeat his captors just as an NSA squad arrives.

The next morning, Augustus arrives and mentions that exposing the Colombian drug cartel was another part of the test. Xander is then given a choice by Augustus: work for him or serve a lengthy prison term for his misdeeds. He grudgingly chooses government employment.

xXx goes undercover in the Czech Republic in order to find out more about "Anarchy 99" and in particular their leader Yorgi (Marton Csokas), a Russian ex-soldier who has a grudge against authority and society in general, and indeed all political ideologies, both left wing and right wing. Delving into the dark yet lavish and tempting underworld inhabited by the group, Xander finds himself drawn to Yorgi's apparent girlfriend Yelena (Asia Argento), who turns out to be an abandoned agent of the Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Bureau, and he negotiates a political asylum deal with Gibbons to save, and secure her a new life in America. However, Anarchy 99 turns out to be a terrorist faction, planning a series of chemical weapons attacks on major world cities by utilizing a high speed automated sea-faring and river-faring drone named Ahab. The chemical weapon is referred to as "Silent Night", and the formula has been missing since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Silent Night is comprised of every day chemicals yet in combination are lethal. After killing millions the chemicals are designed to harmlessly disperse in water. Yorgi's ultimate aim is cause chaos and lawlessness across the entire world, bringing civilization to an anarchic end and destroying the system that killed so many of Anarchy 99's old military comrades for no reason.

Xander, with Yelena continuing to act as a double agent, learns that Ahab is equipped with a device designed to travel to highly populated areas where it can deploy its biological missiles and continue on its world-ending journey by submerging in the ocean. An agent-turned-criminal Milan Sova (Richy Müller), unaware of Yorgi's ultimate plans, finds Xander's methods so extreme- Xander having exposed him as a spy during the initial infiltration attempt and subsequently shooting him with fake bullets to gain Yorgi's trust- that he defects in support of Yorgi, and Yelena is forced to kill him. Then, Xander arranges an operation to raid the remote castle with the Czech special forces, which Yorgi and Anarchy 99 have been using as their base and laboratory. Xander is then captured. his hands and feet are tied up and he is tortured. Yelena eventually rescues him and unties him. After Xander shoots and kills Yorgi, Xander speeds along winding roads, and parasails onto Ahab, as it speeds down the Vltava River towards Prague, capital of the Czech Republic with a population of well over a million. Xander finally destroys the drone and the chemicals onboard, when they harmlessly disperse in the water, proceeding to quip "Welcome to the Xander zone!".

The movie ends with Xander on vacation with Yelena in Bora Bora as agent Gibbons jokingly informs him that because of his actions during the movie, he has passed "The Test", the "Gibbons Test". He also says that he needs him for another assignment, as "something else has come up".

Cast

Shavers' gadgets used by Xander

Notable cameos

To imply Xander Cage's credibility within extreme sport subcultures, various personalities make cameo appearances. Tony Hawk makes a cameo appearance in the Corvette scene from the bottom of the bridge driving the getaway Cadillac, (near the beginning of the movie) and skating over a half-pipe at Xander's place later. Mike Vallely also makes a cameo as a cameraman and an extra. Pro BMX rider Rick Thorne is seen in the back seat of the Cadillac driven by Tony Hawk, and rider Matt Hoffman exchanges lines with Xander during the party scene. Also during the party scene Josh Todd, the lead singer of Buckcherry, makes a cameo appearance - he never turns around, but his suicide king of hearts tattoo can be seen on his back. In a deleted scene when Xander cage is on a plane one of the other passengers can be clearly heard listening to the first race from Vin Diesels 2001 film The Fast and Furious. The band Rammstein appears near the beginning of the film while the band Orbital appears later on in the film during the night club/rave sequence.

Movie themes

Various concepts and themes influenced the production of the film and are alluded to throughout the plot. These include extreme sport subcultures, anarchism, and a rejection of traditional spy-film clichés. Xander Cage's drink of choice, a non-alcoholic mix of cranberry juice and club soda, was chosen to contrast against James Bond's fondness for martinis and champagne. The opening scene of the movie was referred to by Cohen as "The Death of The Tuxedo", in reference to styles of dress stereotypically worn in James Bond movies, though Cohen denied that this was meant to be a derogatory attack on such films. He also explained that the antagonist, Yorgi, was designed as a stereotypical anarchist, and was intended to act as a foil to Xander Cage's youthful rebelliousness, although he notes his personal disdain for, and displays certain misconceptions of, the political philosophy.^[2]

Production

Filming of the movie took place at three locations. Most of the movie is set in Prague, Czech Republic. The Corvette jump was filmed at the Foresthill Bridge in Auburn State Recreation Area, Auburn, California. The final scenes were set in Bora Bora, Tahiti, and other areas in French Polynesia.

The first few minutes of the movie take place in a Rammstein concert in Prague. The same clip is available, but from the band's perspective (with only brief scenes from the movie) in their video compilation Lichtspielhaus.

Harry L. O'Connor, Diesel's stunt double, was killed in an accident during filming, in a scene in which he was supposed to rappel down a parasailing line and land on a submarine. When O'Connor failed to rappel down the line fast enough, he hit a bridge at high speed and was killed instantly. His death was caught on film, and director Rob Cohen decided to include the footage of the scene with the final moments edited out — out of respect for the stuntman's final act.^[3]

Writing

xXx was written by Rich Wilkes, directed by Rob Cohen (who also directed Diesel in 2001's The Fast and the Furious), and produced by Neal H. Moritz for Revolution Studios. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film featured a notable contemporary rock music soundtrack, mostly featuring heavy metal. Rammstein provided some of the music and even featured in the film in one scene. The soundtrack album also features Queens of the Stone Age, Drowning Pool, Hatebreed and others, and some artists of different genres such as Nelly, Lil' Wayne, N*E*R*D, Orbital and Moby.

Marketing

xXx was marketed as a "James Bond-style film for the new millennium" and featured similar gadgetry, international schemes and intrigues, villain-sponsored take-over-the-world schemes backed up by doomsday devices, a female co-star/love interest, and elaborate stunts. However the film has a notable rejection of many traditional spy film clichés, and includes themes of anarchism and the extreme sports sub-cultures.

Reception

xXx received mixed critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 47% of the critics gave the film positive reviews based on a sample of 173, with an average score of 5.6/10. The movie did very well on the box office surpassing its budget of $70,000,000 US with a domestic total gross of $142,109,382 US and $267,204,016 US worldwide.

Novelization

The novelization for the movie was written by popular author Mel Odom.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing hip hop and alternative rock was released on August 6, 2002 through Universal Records. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, #16 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #1 on the Top Soundtracks.

Director's cut

The Director's Cut DVD of xXx was released on April 19, 2005, ten days before the sequel xXx: State of the Union was released in cinemas. The Director's Cut of xXx featured new artwork, and deleted scenes of xXx previously unseen. Some of these include additional scenes that foreshadowed Xander as a hero, and also a longer stripper-in-the-bedroom sequence. There were also sneak peeks at the sequel.

The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage

In addition to the deleted scenes on the Directors Cut of xXx, the DVD contains a short film entitled The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage, some four and a half minutes long. In this short the death of Vin Diesel's character Xander Cage is vaguely depicted. The short film attempts to tie up the loose ends from the first film and ties into the beginning of the sequel, albeit not very neatly. Xander's face is never actually seen, and is bodily played by a stand-in with a single sample of Vin Diesel's dialogue from the first film ("the things I'm gonna do for my country").^[4]

A special ops team on a mission to assassinate Xander (they are wearing identical uniforms to the rogue special ops team in the sequel's opening scene) track down Xander Cage, who happens to be on a date with Jordan King (portrayed by Leila Arcieri, who appeared briefly in the original film as the same character of Jordan King). The special ops team abduct Jordan King and then trick Xander into entering a building they have rigged to explode by leaving Jordan King's coat in the doorway to the building. The building explodes moments after Xander enters it. Lt. Colonel Alabama "Bama" Cobb (John G. Connolly), one of the henchmen from the sequel, arrives on the scene to verify Xander's death. Amongst the debris in the street from the explosion, Cobb picks up a piece of Xander's trademark white fur coat, burnt up, and also skin from the back of his head along with his distinctive "triple x" tattoo, and comments "Poor Xander. You never had very much between the ears". "Feuer frei!" by Rammstein plays throughout this sequence; the same song appeared in the original film.

The sequence was widely criticized by fans of the original film.^[5] The character of Xander Cage was killed off to explain his absence from the sequel, xXx: State of the Union. The truth is that Vin Diesel had chosen not to be in the sequel because the director of the first film, Rob Cohen, a long-time friend of Diesel, was no longer directing the sequel and the new director Lee Tamahori was taking the franchise in a new direction away from what Diesel believed the fans wanted, namely less of an emphasis on extreme stunts. The entire sequence in The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage is moot due the fact that the character of Xander Cage is not dead in the canon of the franchise. Cohen, director of the first film, has stated "I didn't do the sequel, and they went off in a stupid direction. But the character is still alive".^[6] Rich Wilkes, the scriptwriter for the first film and creator of the character of Xander Cage, had nothing to do with the sequel xXx: State of the Union or the four-minute-short short The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage. Since they had nothing to do with Diesel, Cohen or Wilkes, it is likely Xander's death was an invention of Tamahori or Tamahori's own scriptwriters who hoped fans would concentrate on their own protagonist of the sequel, played by Ice Cube. Furthermore, the character of Xander Cage is not retired due to the fact Vin Diesel in reprising the role of Xander Cage in a second sequel, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, slated for release in 2011, which Cohen is again directing.

Sequels

The film was followed by a very poorly received sequel in 2005, entitled xXx: State of the Union, starring the rapper Ice Cube and directed by Lee Tamahori. Neither Vin Diesel, Rob Cohen or xXx creator Rich Wilkes were involved in the sequel, and there were notable differences in both style (less emphasis on extreme sports) and music (rock music was replaced with hip hop and rap), for example. xXx: State of the Union currently has a very poor rating of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes.^[7] The sequel was also a disastrous financial failure, making less than half of what was expected compared to the original film.

Replacing Diesel for the sequel was rap artist/actor Ice Cube, and accordingly the soundtrack was changed from a heavy metal/modern rock mixture to that of a hip hop/extreme rap style. Although Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Roof reprised their roles from the original film, and some big names were included such as Willem Dafoe, the sequel was not as well received as the first film, perhaps due to the fact the hallmark extreme stunts had been notably toned down. xXx: State of the Union was considered a financial flop having only made half of what it was expected to earn based on the original film. xXx: State of the Union currently has a disappointing rating of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Although the character of Xander Cage was apparently killed off in the sequel to explain his absence, the character apparently survived as Vin Diesel has announced that he will be returning as Xander Cage in a second sequel, entitled xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, which is slated for release in summer 2011.^[8] Although as yet the script is to be completed, Diesel has agreed to return and so has the director of xXx, Rob Cohen. Diesel has said that the style and music will also be similar to that of the original film, more of what the fans want, with an emphasis on extreme stunts and with a heavy metal soundtrack. Joe Roth is in talks to produce.^[9] According to Cohen, he has also approached Sony, and "now we're writing a script with the guys who wrote Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation. So we'll do another Xander Cage XXX. We'll bring it up to speed a bit and bring back the extreme sports guy who's drafted to be a spy."^[10] On June 10, 2009, Cohen dropped out again for the second time. He was forced out to direct Medieval. On August 26, 2009, Ericson Core will be directing and production will start on early next year.

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: xXx

• Official website
• xXx at the Internet Movie Database
• xXx at Allmovie
• xXx at the Internet Movie Cars Database
• xXx at Rotten Tomatoes
• xXx at Metacritic
• xXx at Box Office Mojo