Spring Break
XXX: State of the Union
Movie Review
Ashley Davis
Issue date: 5/6/05 Section: The Edge
- Page 1 of 1
Grade: C
In "XXX: State of the Union," Ice Cube proves to be a much better actor than Vin Diesel. But looking at Ice Cube perform extreme action moves is a constant reminder that this is just a movie. And although Ice Cube's acting skills were better serviced for this sequel, the movie still lacked an interesting and believable storyline.
The film abruptly begins when there is a sudden attack on an underground defense department control room located near Washington, D.C. Augustus Givens (Samuel L. Jackson) needs an "extreme agent" to find out what's going on. When he tries to locate former XXX, Xander Cage (Diesel), he learns that Xander was killed in Bora Bora (a joke that only viewers who saw the first "XXX" will understand).
Givens suddenly knows who would be perfect for the job. He decides his former comrade, Darius Stone (Ice Cube), an ex-navy seal, is their only hope. First, Givens must break Stone out of military prison because he was serving 20 years for leading a mutiny against his commanding general in Kosovo. This same commanding general (Willem Dafoe) is now the secretary of defense. Since Dafoe is easily recognized as Spider Man's nemesis, it wasn't hard to guess that he would also serve as the villain in this film.
After Stone is freed, he goes back to visit his old friends in a car chop shop in southeast D.C., where he finds out that his ex-girlfriend, Lola (Nona Gaye), has moved to northwest D.C., and is selling cars for half a million dollars.
Then it is discovered that the secretary of defense plans on killing the president, vice president, and anyone else in the chain of command before him. Of course, it's up to Stone to save the day.
As said before, Ice Cube has superior acting skills over Diesel, but he has 15 years of experience, so one can't be too hard on Diesel. Jackson's role wasn't big in the film, and Gaye might as well have not been there. However, the movie's lack of zeal was not the acting. It was just a terribly written story.
In "XXX: State of the Union," Ice Cube proves to be a much better actor than Vin Diesel. But looking at Ice Cube perform extreme action moves is a constant reminder that this is just a movie. And although Ice Cube's acting skills were better serviced for this sequel, the movie still lacked an interesting and believable storyline.
The film abruptly begins when there is a sudden attack on an underground defense department control room located near Washington, D.C. Augustus Givens (Samuel L. Jackson) needs an "extreme agent" to find out what's going on. When he tries to locate former XXX, Xander Cage (Diesel), he learns that Xander was killed in Bora Bora (a joke that only viewers who saw the first "XXX" will understand).
Givens suddenly knows who would be perfect for the job. He decides his former comrade, Darius Stone (Ice Cube), an ex-navy seal, is their only hope. First, Givens must break Stone out of military prison because he was serving 20 years for leading a mutiny against his commanding general in Kosovo. This same commanding general (Willem Dafoe) is now the secretary of defense. Since Dafoe is easily recognized as Spider Man's nemesis, it wasn't hard to guess that he would also serve as the villain in this film.
After Stone is freed, he goes back to visit his old friends in a car chop shop in southeast D.C., where he finds out that his ex-girlfriend, Lola (Nona Gaye), has moved to northwest D.C., and is selling cars for half a million dollars.
Then it is discovered that the secretary of defense plans on killing the president, vice president, and anyone else in the chain of command before him. Of course, it's up to Stone to save the day.
As said before, Ice Cube has superior acting skills over Diesel, but he has 15 years of experience, so one can't be too hard on Diesel. Jackson's role wasn't big in the film, and Gaye might as well have not been there. However, the movie's lack of zeal was not the acting. It was just a terribly written story.
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