XXX: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE (2017)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

Maybe I was just in the mood for near-mindless action, but I enjoyed this retread more than either of the first two films. My snap judgment is that I enjoyed the directorial moxie of DJ Caruso, who'd done a couple of previous high-ticket thrillers before this, but who's not exactly known as an action-guy.

Both of the previous films involved marvelous technology kept somewhat on the margins. CAGE foregrounds a major tech-threat involving "Pandora's Box," a device that can cause US satellites to crash to Earth like ballistic missiles. The heroes themselves don't use many gadgets themselves, except for a pair of briefly-seen "strength gloves" with which one can punch through steel. It's possible that in reviving the franchise the producers decided they would go full-bore with the "James Bond As Science Fiction" trope.  

Xander Cage, said to have been knocked off in the second franchise-movie, is really alive and off the grid, not wanting to get drawn into further espionage games. However, the Pandora's Box device is stolen by a bunch of extreme-sports agents, and one of those crashing satellites apparently kills Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), the former head of the XXX program. The spy-chief in charge (Toni Collette) figures out that Cage is still alive and coaxes him into using his extreme-sports skills in the service of Good, even if he doesn't believe that the government is a good in itself. "It's all just rebels and tyrants," Cage tells the chief. Her response of "which are you" somehow gets him to sign up. She tries to give him a team of Marines for his support-team and Cage kicks them to the curb, selecting his own backup.

Understandably, none of the secondary players are as charismatic as Diesel's Cage, and the same is true as the enemy-team, with the possible exception of the other team's Really Hot Girl, Serena (Deepika Padukone). I'll give away one of the film's reveals by noting that the other team is also an XXX team that had been recruited by the maybe-not-dead Gibbons, and so you have another example of different government agents getting pitted against one another. The identity of the villain who has the deadly device is only a minor twist, but just when you think all is well-- it's time for another spyjinks-doublecross! Also, if anyone was missing Ice Cube's XXX 2.0 from the second movie, he comes in at the end, making this another crossover-movie.

The dialogue generally counterpoints the action: airy and light and thus matching Diesel's encore performance. Padukone and Ruby Rose (as a sniper) provide some femme-fight action, while Donnie Yen and Tony Jaa furnish representation on the XY side. Nina Dobrev as a non-combatant agent drawn into the chaos provides some humorous moments. The flick was a success, and thus I'm surprised that no further installments have appeared as yet.