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:

Faked Death | Exploding Car | Car Chase | Shot In The Back | Shot To Death

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
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 | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U | Malaysia:U (cinema release) | Malaysia:U (re-rating) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | France:U | 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:

Jerry Goldsmith suggested to director Lee Tamahori that he should hire composer Marco Beltrami.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Right after Darius blows the boats, Steele is on the dock firing at him. It is clearly shown that he shoots a couple rounds but his finger is not on the trigger.

Quotes:

Toby Lee Shavers: You want me to hack in? Into The U.S. Department of Defense? We're talking 500 acres of hardware. Cray supercomputers, encryption chips, not to mention more firewalls than the NSA, CIA and the IRS combined.
Darius Stone: Exactly.
[hands his bag of chips to Lola]
Toby Lee Shavers: Hold my chips.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Goedemorgen Nederland: (2005-04-28)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Oh No

Quite enjoyable

I don't see why people are giving this film really bad reviews. Yes, it is fairly ridiculous and yes, the plot is very poor. But that's not the reason this film got made. The makers' knew that this story wasn't going to rival 'The Godfather' or 'Star Wars'. It was made for pure entertainment and escapism.

No one moans that James Bond isn't realistic, do they? Of course not, because it is great fun. Now this wasn't as good as many Bond films, if any, but it did its job and kept me entertained. Ice Cube is no better than Vin Diesel as xXx, but not much worse either, in my opinion. It has a fairly decent supporting cast, mainly Samuel L Jackson and Willem Dafoe. They do their jobs too. Nothing special, but adequate enough.

Put simply, if you're looking for an Oscar-winning script and performances, then rent out 'Goodfellas'. If you're just looking for some escapism and silly entertainment with big men and big guns, tank chases, fight scenes and lots of cars, then give this a try.

6/10 from me.