xXx: State of the Union
for sequences of intense action violence and some language.
Reviewed by: Bob Rossiter
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults Teens |
| Genre: | Crime Action Adventure Spy Thriller |
| Length: | 1 hr. 34 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2005 |
| USA Release: |
April 29, 2005 (wide) |
| Featuring | Ice Cube, Samuel L. Jackson, Scott Speedman, Peter Strauss, Sunny Mabrey |
| Director |
Lee Tamahori |
| Producer | Neal H Moritz, Arne L. Schmidt |
| Distributor |
 Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures |
Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), fresh off the success of his last renegade recruitment, once again finds himself in need of an outsider. Gibbons and his new agent (Ice Cube), also code-named “xXx,” must track a dangerous military splinter group that is conspiring to overthrow the U.S. Government in the nation’s capital.”
Prequel: “xXx” (2002)
Sequel: “xXx: Return of Xander Cage” (2017)
A favorite topic of many moviegoers over the years has been, “Lone underdog defies the odds and saves the world.” People wait in line at the box office for hours to see a good rendition of this theme. Lucas and Tolkein knew how to do it, but “xXx: State of the Union” doesn’t achieve the same power.
Samuel L. Jackson is Agent Augustus Gibbons, the leader of the xXx chapter of the NSA. After a terrorist attack, Gibbons needed a new operative, so he broke Darius Stone (Ice Cube) out of prison to become the new xXx. Stone soon realizes that this new battle is with an old enemy, George Deckert (Willem Dafoe), who is now the Secretary of Defense.
Deckert is using his position to put people in places that will help him assassinate the President and give him the leadership of the United States. Stone’s desire to stop him isn’t because of a moral reason like freedom or the protection of government leadership, but because of his hatred of Deckert.
Not knowing whom he can trust, Stone puts together a ragtag team consisting of one agent each from the CIA and NSA, his former lover, and other friends who own their own carjacking “business”. This set of misfits must take on elite commandos and former SEAL teams to defeat Deckert.
There is a lot of action violence involving fighting or killing, but no close up shots of the wounds. Some blood is shown, but not in a gory manner.
There are 22 profanities spoken, including the Lord’s name taken in vain (5 times) and the F-word (once). Seven other moderate obscenities account for the rest.
Both Lola (Nona Gaye) and Charlie (Sunny Mabre) wear outfits showing cleavage throughout the movie. Other characters at times wear halter-tops with hot pants or mini-skirts. There are many suggestive comments, with most of them having double meanings, but no outright sex scenes or nudity. Stone starts to initiate sex with Lola at one point, but an NSA agent quickly interrupts them before anything happens.
If you’ve seen the last chick flick you can stomach for a while, and need to see something with action and adventure, you may want to try “xXx2”. Some adults will enjoy the action aspect of this movie, but it is a strong PG-13 and not appropriate for pre-teens.
I was disappointed with the moderate quality of the film, but didn’t have my senses bombarded with gore and nudity either. Don’t bother going, however, if you are a stickler for reality. In one scene, for instance, Stone blows the tires off a car, runs the tireless vehicle down a set of railroad tracks, and catches a bullet train at 200 mph.
“xXx: State of the Union” is far from being a moral movie, but I still like the fact that the lone hero (albeit imperfect one) triumphs over the wicked. In a small way, it reminds me of my Savior. Jesus, by Himself, fought the devil and his minions until He defeated them through the cross and rose again from the dead.
Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/nudity: Moderate
Better than Average / 4
Very Offensive/4
The world is not the moral place it ought to be so it is understandable the overall tone of the flick but what comes through all of the hype and crashing vehicles is that good ALWAYS overcomes evil but as with Christ, it’s never without a big fight. Evil is just as motivated and believes in what it is doing as much as good. It’s good’s faith that overcomes evil in the end and that is as it should be.
As an aspring filmmaker myself, and a man of color, I find it odd that the original xXx opened to over 14 million and after three weeks State of the Union has only grossed 9-12 million. Is the US still so unaccepting of a Black male lead in the movies? “State of The Union” is better and more developed film than the original.
My Ratings: Average/4