xXx: State of the Union, mainly released as xXx²: The Next Level outside the United States and Canada, is a 2005 action/adventure film, directed by Lee Tamahori. It is a sequel to the 2002 film xXx (pronounced "triple x"). The film was produced by Revolution Studios for Columbia Pictures.
Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen, the lead actor and director of the original had signed onto this film before xXx had opened, but both dropped out. Cohen remained an executive producer.
Two different scripts were made for this film, and the one written by Simon Kinberg was selected. The other script featured a radically different plot, possibly serving as the basis for another sequel. As State of the Union underperformed at the box office, and was criticized heavily by critics (the first installment's reception was mixed). The sequel is titled "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage". The current release date for the third film is mid-2010.
Plot summary
Original xXx superspy Xander Cage is reportedly killed in Bora Bora (by Sgt. Cobb's strike team, which can be seen in the Director's Cut release. Although Cage is confirmed to return in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage). Imprisoned former US Navy SEAL Darius Stone (played by Ice Cube) is selected by Agent Augustus Gibbons (played by Samuel L. Jackson) to be the next triple-X agent. Gibbons and his new agent travel to Washington D.C., where they track a splinter faction of the U.S. military that attempts to overthrow the U.S. government and assassinate the President, led by Secretary of Defense and former 4-Star General George Deckert, Stone's former commanding officer (played by Willem Dafoe) whom he once led a mutiny against.
A man is tending an equine farm when he discovers dead bodies, and is killed by an assailant himself. Meanwhile, attackers use special explosives to break into an NSA bunker beneath the equine farm. There, NSA Agent Gibbons fends off the attackers before barely escaping himself. Lt. Col. Cobb is later revealed to be responsible for the attack on the bunker.
Later, Gibbons poses as Stone's lawyer and makes a deal with him in prison. Stone, who had been in prison at Leavenworth for assaulting Deckert, makes a daring escape. Stone is later told to recover a hard drive from the NSA bunker, while trying to escape Agent Kyle at the same time, and is rescued by Gibbons' assistant, Toby Lee Shavers. Some time later, Gibbons appears to be attacked in his home and killed, with Deckert covering up the plot. Afterwards, Stone meets up with Gibbons' contact, a beautiful blonde named Charlie to get information and go to her safe house, but is framed so that it will appear that he murdered 3-Star General Pettibone, whom Cobb and Charlie actually killed.
Police arrive, and Agent Kyle enters the house and makes a deal with Stone, while Toby later hacks into the NSA to retrieve Deckert's plans. Afterwards, Stone infiltrates Deckert's troops aboard the USS Independence and discovers Gibbons is not dead, but being held prisoner by Deckert. Stone is discovered by Charlie, Gibbons orders him to escape and leave him. Before escaping Stone has a run in with Cobb and it is revealed that Deckert is trying to overthrow the President.
Stone along with Toby enlist the aid of some of his former gang members to fight Deckert's force. After carjacking a tank, Stone helps Kyle and some agents infiltrate the Capitol building. After some gunfights (in which Charlie is shot by a liberated Gibbons), Deckert with Cobb abducts the President while he is making the State of the Union Address. They escape on a bullet train.
Stone pursues the bullet train with a Ford Shelby Cobra Concept and after blowing Cobb up, fights Deckert while helping the president escape in an adjacent helicopter. Stone leaps from the fleeing train while Gibbons destroys it with a missile, killing Deckert. The flaming wreckage from the train lights Stone in a silhouette as he dives into the river below, narrowly avoiding the wreckage that plunges in after him.
The President awards Agent Kyle and the Unknown Soldier (Stone) the Congressional Medal of Honor, as Stone goes back to his lifestyle. Deckert receives full honours at his funeral, somewhat to Stone's disgust. He and Lola part with her leaving him the Mustang, and he drives off; the xXx tattoo can be seen on the back of his neck.
The film ends at a cliffhanger just as Gibbons is about to reveal the next candidate for the xXx position.
Main cast
Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip hop and alternative rock was released on April 26, 2005 through Jive Records. It peaked at #117 on the Billboard 200, #48 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #5 on the Top Soundtracks.
Critical Reception
Though the film was expected to be one of the summer blockbusters of 2005, it performed poorly, both critically and financially. Rotten Tomatoes scores it a "Rotten" 16% as of October 4, 2008 [1]. Boo Allen of the Denton Record Chronicle called Ice Cube's version of xXx "a chubby, surly, incomprehensible action hero" [2]. Brian Orndorf of FilmJerk.com compared watching the movie to running "headfirst at top speed into a brick wall" [3]. David Hiltbrand of the Philadelphia Inquirer said "the plot swings between pathetically implausible and aggressively stupid" [4]. However, some critics liked the film. Mack Bates of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel praised Ice Cube's "trademark charisma and street sensibility" [5], while Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly called it "that rare B movie that’s rooted in gut-level stirrings of power and retaliation" [6]. Paul Arendt of the BBC said, "Viewed on its own trashy terms, it succeeds brilliantly" [7]
Financially, the film was a disappointment with a gross of only $12.7 million on its opening weekend, half of what it was expected to earn. It went on to gross only $26,873,932 domestically and $71,022,693 worldwide [8]. xXx: State of the Union was such a disappointment that it was widely believed to be the death of the xXx franchise. However, it has been reported that Vin Diesel has agreed to star in a sequel, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage [9].
Sequel
XXX franchise
External links
