Jan. 20, 2017 will give the long awaited return of Vin Diesel as Xander Cage in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. The new trailer gives us a better glimpse of hip hop artist Nicky Jam, who plays a supporting role in the films. It looks like he’ll be playing an arms dealer that hits it off with Cage.
The film seems to be aiming for the same comedy-action tone of Fast Five and Furious Six while preserving the Xtreme Sports inspiration of the first two xXx films. I was always interested in how the FF series basically morphed into low power superhero films and judging by this trailer, xXx is following suit. Furious Six fans who have strong feelings about the ‘how did you know the car would be there to break our fall’ moment should gird themselves before watching the trailer, as the most memorable moment is Cage breaking a gun in half… over his knee. I for one, love when action films push the laws of reality slightly to create fun unique moments, but I have to admit - this one goes a little far. Also - not every fun tentpole action movie has to be a superhero movie. I’ll just keep saying that until someone listens.
You gotta respect Vin for his love of all his stalled early 2000s franchises and, to be honest, I’m surprised they didn’t pivot away further from the ‘Xtreme’ sports themes of the xXx franchise. But maybe a return to the gnarly age of gogurt and shredding is exactly what the world needs right now. Check out the trailer below:
