Grade: B

Verdict: Gnarly in the extreme.

Details: Starring Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson and Asia Argento. Directed by Rob Cohen. Rated PG-13 for violence, sensuality, drug references and language. One hour, 40 minutes.

See it: Theaters and showtimes for XXX

Rate it: Write your own review

Review: James Bond should feel violated. "XXX" makes a mockery of every genre convention Her Majesty's finest shagged so hard to establish. But in this particular instance, that's a good thing. Well, assuming you're a sucker for smoke and mirrors.

"XXX" is supposed to be the beginning of a new era of Bonds-with-street-cred. The studio went about achieving this goal in the usual way. First, acquire a pricey leading man; star player Vin Diesel reputedly bogarted one-fifth the film's $50 million budget. Next, hire a supersuave supporting actor, preferably in the form of an ever-impressive Samuel L. Jackson. Round out the package with a sexy young starlet (Asia Argento readily serves the purpose here), crank up the volume, purchase enough explosives to blow the local multiplex to Sri Lanka, and — voila! — instant summer smash.

Wanted bad boy Xander Cage (Diesel) is, like, too radical for words. He surfs atop cars plummeting from cliffsides and snowboards down avalanches. Recruited by a government agent named Gibbons (Jackson), it's his job to stop a renegade Russian paramilitary outfit from unleashing a massively destructive chemical weapon upon the world. Canoodling with femme fatale Yelena (Argento) along the way? That's just a bonus.

It gets more ludicrous from there on out. Don't blame director Rob Cohen — the plot didn't leave much to work with.

Thanks to an unrelenting cinematic execution, though, viewers won't mind. What it lacks in form, "XXX" atones for in force; every defiantly over-the-top action scene — from high-stakes car chases to fearsome drug busts — seizes your adrenal gland and milks it like an epileptic farmer. Knowingly or not, Cohen and Co. concocted a winning formula — intensity plus excessive speed, thunderous heavy metal and breakneck pacing equals a happy audience.

Still, as an archetype for dragging the spoofy spy genre into the modern world, the movie falls short. The references to video-game culture are ham-fisted, and clumsy stabs at anti-establishment jargon undermine its street cred. Good luck stifling a groan when Diesel's ripping off sassy supercross tricks amid death-defying leaps — or telling us, "I live for this s--t" after being yanked out of a plane. Over the course of the film, the teen demographic whom this new brute of a silver-screen contender may take a pass The teen demographic may balk; he's more marketing gimmick than macho man.

But for every "dope," "dude" and pointless PlayStation reference, there's a moment of exceptional verbal repartee. Surprisingly clever dialogue carries many scenes. Never mind the banter, though. Pure eye-candy is where the magic of this movie lies. Where other films draw the line, "XXX" gleefully sprints past it. Every mindless one-man-army saga features exploding cars. Here entire buildings combustimmolate; helicopters rise behind the hero with guns ablaze; whole mountainsides cave indown — and all the while our hero has the aplomb to perform free-form grinds down a staircase rail on a serving tray.

Those comfortable with putting their higher mental processes on hold for a couple of joyous hours of wanton, unrepentant violence won't be disappointed.

Still, the marriage of copious special effects and witty dialogue comes at the expense of depth and detail, rendering what could've been a classic merely entertaining, and painfully shallow to boot.

— Scott Steinberg, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution