XXX: Return of Xander Cage (released as xXx: Reactivated in some countries) is a 2017 action film directed by D. J. Caruso and written by F. Scott Frazier. The film stars Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, Toni Collette, Ariadna Gutiérrez, Hermione Corfield, and Samuel L. Jackson. It is the third installment in the xXx film series and a sequel to both XXX and XXX: State of the Union.
Plot[]
12 years after the events of the second movie, Extreme athlete turned government operative Xander Cage comes out of self-imposed exile, thought to be long dead, and is set on a collision course with deadly alpha warrior Xiang and his team in a race to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora's Box. Recruiting an all-new group of thrill-seeking cohorts, Xander finds himself enmeshed in a deadly conspiracy that points to collusion at the highest levels of world governments.
Why It's Great[]
- It's a decent improvement over the second film.
- Brings back our beloved memorable characters and its cast, such as Vin Diesel, who played as Xander Cage, and Samuel L. Jackson, who also played as Augustus Gibbons, the founder of the xXx program and also NSA field agent who originally recruited Cage, making the fans happy.
- The title "Return of Xander Cage" is also well-received by the fans.
- The opening fight scene with Xiang shoots, and kicks at the command center are pretty cool to look at.
- Decent acting, especially for the newer casts Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, etc.
- The soundtrack is still as epic as the first movie, that was performed by Brian Tyler and Robert Lydecker.
- The third movie brings back the charm and extreme sportsmanship of the first movie.
- The action scenes are still cool, just like the previous two films, such as riding on the ski bike chase scene.
- Awesome practical effects, especially some of the car crashes, and even explosions as well.
- The concept of vehicles, such as making the motorbikes to have ski bikes when landing into the water is actually a cool concept for the action film and fits very well.
Bad Qualities[]
- Even though it's a decent follow up to its predacessor, it is generally considered not as good as the first film.
Reception[]
XXX: Return of Xander Cage holds a 45% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 140 reviews, and an average rating of 4.83/10.
Box Office[]
XXX: Return of Xander Cage grossed $44.9 million in the United States and Canada and $301.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $346.3 million, against a production budget of $85 million.