Movie: XXX: State of the Union - Review

NSA Agent August Gibbons, fresh off the success of his last renegade recruitment, once again finds himself in need of an outsider. Gibbons and his new agent Darius Stone, now code-named "XXX," must track down a military splinter group that is conspiring to overthrow the U.S. Government.

Genres: Action/Adventure
Running Time: 1 hr. 41 min.
Release Date: April 29th, 2005 (wide).
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense action violance and some language.
Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Just watched XXX: State of the Union on DVD, starring Ice Cube as the new Triple X. Willem Defoe stars as the antagonist Secretary of Defense, and does a decent job with the poor writing. Samuel Jackson is again brought in to play the head of the NSA.

Overall the movie is decent so long as you do not expect a quality film, and don't mind the Sci-Fi genre. The acting is unfortunately worse than Vin-Deisel's portrayal in the orignal. Ice Cube plays the new XXX with attitutude, but acts it out in a thuggish manner. It feels as though he is ill prepared for the role: my one example would be his poor physical appearance. I would have expected for an actor to bulk up, or trim down for a role as an ex-navy seal, however his overall appearance as a hero is just average.

Luckily for this film, there were no rediculous sports stunts, just some plain rediculous stunts. They don't come off quite as cheezy as the first film, and some are executed better than the first. There is however a cartoonish use of CG animation in the second half of the film. That is where the Sci-Fi/ Fantasy comment would come into play.

If you were a fan of the previous James Bond Film" Die another Day, you should be just fine with this film.
If you hate movies with rap soundtracks, this film is definitely not for you.

Overall I would say it is not as bad as the original seemed to me, however the poor writing and simultaneously poor acting take it quite low. This movie holds value only as a exciting, over the top action flick, with less than average execution. A DVD rental - Maybe (If your in the mood), A Ticket Price movie - no.