Movie Review - XXX: The Return Of Xander Cage

WHEN the first xXx film was released in 2002, Vin Diesel, who played thrill-seeking extreme sports enthusiast Xander Cage, was riding high as a movie star.
However, his character was said to be dead in the 2005 sequel, xXx: State of the Union, which had Ice Cube as new agent Darius Stone.
This movie opens with the xXx programme founder NSA Agent Augustus Eugene Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) trying to recruit ­footballer Neymar (who is playing himself).
Next thing you know, a satellite crashes into the area, and everything and everybody gets annihilated.
Gibbons’ replacement, the no-nonsense Jane Marke (Toni Collette), is soon briefing the heads of ­several intelligence agencies, informing them that the crash was caused by a device that she and her team managed to retrieve.
However, a team of assailants led by Xiang (Donnie Yen) infiltrate the meeting in the most outlandish way imaginable. And with moves that would have made James Bond green with envy, Xiang and his people make off with the device.
Realising that the assailants are very well-trained, Jane decides to bring Xander (who is not dead after all) back into the fold.
Xander, in turn, brings in his crew – DJ Nicks (Kris Wu), sharpshooter Adele (Ruby Rose), and former ­stuntman Tennyson (Rory McCann), who are all surprisingly useful.
They travel to an island in the Philippines, where Xiang is facing his own ­problems with his right-hand ­woman, Serena (Deepika Padukone), who ­opposes his plans for the device.
Both groups meet, and after some major ­revelations, ­skirmishes, a race against time to save the world and what have you, the movie ends on a high note.
Fans of Tony Jaa might enjoy watching the star do some nifty stunts in the movie.
The movie has more than a few fun moments that should please fans of this genre.
Frankly speaking, I found this instalment more entertaining than the first two films.
Watch the trailer here: