Plot: What’s it about?
Darius Stone (Ice Cube) was sentenced to two decades in prison, as a result of a secret mission that unraveled. His skills as an agent were top notch, but his renegade attitude, risk tasking tendencies, and addiction to adrenaline helped land him in this not too great predicament. At the same time, five star general and Secretary of Defense George Deckert (Willem Dafoe) has assembled a splinter group of military mavericks, in an effort to overthrow the government. Deckert has the masterful strategies to do so and now, he has the sheer numbers to roll his plan into action. In an effort to stop his plot, a top secret agency has recruited Darius Stone to use his unorthodox methods and throw Deckert’s plan off balance. As the newest xXx agent, Darius will have access to cutting edge tools and weapons, but will even that be enough to thwart Deckert?
The original xXx was marketed as a new kind of James Bond, with Vin Diesel as a secret agent who had a love for all things extreme sports. That movie didn’t pan out, but the franchise continued on without Diesel, as Ice Cube was brought in to keep things afloat. I have no clue why anyone thought Ice Cube would make an effective secret agent or action star, but xXx: State of the Union is one awful motion picture. Ice Cube is terrible, as always, but here he is so miscast, he stumbles and stutters in ways that make you feel sorry for the dude. His presence as the lead is what sinks this movie, even with the best script and high end stunt set pieces, he would have dragged this one to the bottom. But with mediocre writing and mid-level at best action scenes, this movie never even had a chance. I simply cannot recommend this movie to anyone, as xXx: State of the Union is a total waste of time and even in high definition, a bad movie is a bad movie.
Video: How does it look?
xXx: State of the Union is presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen. I was disappointed here, as this transfer isn’t what we want to see from high definition releases. I did see some minor improvements over the DVD, but detail isn’t remarkable and the image comes off as flat. So depth is not great, which is a real let down on such a recent movie. The colors look bright, but again, not much more vivid than on the standard edition. At least contrast is up to par, but I also noticed increased grain and noise, which cancels out these minor improvements. Not good, not good at all.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 option is better than the visual effort, but still won’t turn any heads. The surrounds rarely offer much power or presence beyond the basics, even in the action scenes. And when a movie puts as much emphasis on “Xtreme” as this one does, you expect some over the top elements, right? Not the case however, as even the most intense action scenes sound merely passable and more reserved ones sound flat. Not what you want from an action movie. The audio here is not terrible, but it seems basic and never catches your attention. This disc also includes a French language track, as well as subtitles in English and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
All of the extras from the DVD return, which means both commentaries are back, one with the film’s director & writer, the other with members of the visual effects team. I listened to both and neither were loaded with information, as each had ample silent runs and self praise. But for a movie like this, I doubt there’s much to be said unless the participants are candid and discuss why it failed, which doesn’t happen here. You can also check out four brief featurettes, as well as some deleted scenes.
