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XXX Friday
Finally, a brand new issue of my column to finish off the week. Today has good ole Dr. Strangelove's thoughts on the script to Vin Diesel's XXX. Having read it myself, I can tell you that this flick is going to kick some serious ass. It's going to take Diesel to the next level. Personally, I'm more looking forward to The Chronicles of Riddick. Now that David Twohy is back at the helm, this project is back on track. Have a nice weekend everyone!
XXX Script Review
And here I thought it would be a stright-forward James Bond rip-off, which it does clone quite often, but for some reason I found myself drawn in and strongly entertained during my marathon reading session of the XXX screenplay. (The screenplay even mocks James Bond in the opening scene with the forseeable death of an undercover British Agent whose slickness ends up into turning into quite a joke.) I don't quite know why, I was actually dreading to read it because it looked like every Mission: Impossible/James Bond flick hacked together during the wave of The Fast and the Furious mania. (I still haven't seen it.) However, while I did find a clone action film, I found something different.
I don't exactly know how to judge Vin Diesel. The only role I've seen him in was his supporting role in Saving Private Ryan (very well done), however, I have yet to see any have his other films (Boiler Room and FatF). The part Diesel is given here has some real potential, granted, it's not an Oscar caliber script, but the guy is really bad ass without going over the top. He isn't the clean cut Ethan Hunt or James Bond, he is almost an antagonist of sorts and it's a nice break of cliche. Diesel's character is Xander Cage, codename XXX. He is a thrill seeker who begins the film riding off a skyscraper on a bike, parachuting down to the street and riding off. He arrives home, is dumped by his girlfriend who is tired of his un-stable (and near fatal) lifestyle and she leaves him. Meanwhile, Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), an NSA agent, is looking for another agent to replace his James Bond from the opening scene. There is a band of criminals in Europe with something dangerous.
Xander's training, while sort of cliche, is also catchy and entertaining. From setting him up in a mock setting to tricking him into a real drug raid, Gibbon's really puts Xander down for a ride to see what he is made of. Xander tries to resist and actually isn't that much of a push over. Of course, as always, XXX joins and is sent to Europe to infiltrate the band of criminals with a wide assortment of gadgets. Like I said, it's just like a Bond film. Take this for example. Xander receives a pair of goggles that can see through walls and other things, including a near-by woman's dress:
XANDER
I think I'll hang onto these.
That was my major complaint about the flick. It is too much of your typical Bond rip-off. Granted, it makes things fairly fresh in the way of action sequences and it even mocks it at times (including the opening which reads: TITLE SEQUENCE- HARDCORE MUSIC plays as we see a flowing TAPESTRY OF FLORID TATTOOS. SILHOUETTED against this backdrop we see the OUTLINES of NUDE WOMEN riding BMX BIKES in a HALF-PIPE, BLADING over obstacles, SKY SURFING and doring street SKATE TRICKS. It's a collision of outlandish imagery that tells you on thing: This ain't your daddy's spy movie.) However, daddy's spy movie is what it exactly is, rehashed for a new generation. The sexual innuendos, the cool gadgets, the dashing and dangerous male lead, and a kick ass car, mixed with a ton of action sequences. If Rich Wilkes (the screenwriter) wanted to do something different, he should have put a girl in the lead role and not made her a Lara Croft clone. How often do we see female spies? I mean, guys go to these movies to see chicks, cars, and action. Why not put a chick lead as a spy?
I do give Wilkes credit for writing some really sharp dialogue. While his action scenes don't feed the audience anything really fresh, his dialogue is really slick. Take the example of Xander before getting a possible torturing:
Even the action scenes have their share of smarter humor and not Arnold yelling: "YOU'RE FIRED!" before blasting someone with a rocket launcher. (Hey, True Lies was a good movie too, but you know the moments I'm talking about.) WE PAN OVER WEAPONS: MACHINE GUNS, MINES, ROCKETS, AMMO, ETC. We finally arrive at Zander leaning on his GTO. He sparks a blowtorch and lights a cigar:XANDER
What's on the menu tonight? The old blowtorch-to-the-family jewels routine, I'll bet. Hey, you want roasted nuts, let's break out the planters.
XANDER
I want all that... (Patting the GTO.) In there.
Not bad stuff, a little Bondesque, but it's not "Christmas only came once a year". The plot also has it's share of twists and turns, almost like a noir flick or other spy films. It's not like blind siding revelations or anything, but it adds a grey matter to the usual WHITE VS. BLACK. Overall, I think Wilkes has a smart script. Cliche at times, it's going to be entertaining none the less. It's not difficult to connect point A with point B, but the ride is what you're paying the fare for.
(Review submitted by Dr. Strangelove.)
Stay tuned...
That's all folks...
Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)
Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org
Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.
