XXX: The Return of A Cheesy, Well Cast, and Nonsensical Mess.

   Vin Diesel is going back to his roots again. First back to the Fast and Furious Franchise. A move that proved profitable and entertaining. Now, he is reviving XXX. The rebel secret agent who is not a good guy, but not quite the bad guy either. The big difference in the two franchises is age. The furious audience seems like it grew with Vin. The XXX audience feels a little like it out grew the franchise. Vin is showing his age and sometimes feels like the oldest guy in the bar hitting on girls and hanging out with his twenty-something friends. 

   An extreme sports athlete turned agent Xander Cage (Diesel), thought to have died, comes out of hiding and is recruited by the CIA to chase another team of XXX agents and over a super weapon called "Pandora's Box" which can control military satellites which they literally drop out of the sky on people and places. Xander recruits his own team and finds himself caught up in a deadly conspiracy of corruption among world governments including his own country's government.

  The cast is great for what it is. Martial arts movie star Tony Ja and UFC Champ Michael Bisping are placed perfectly. Football great Tony Gonzalez and Samuel Jackson are what you'd expect. It's Nina Dobrev and Ruby Rose that look like they are having the most fun. For Dobrev, it was a chance to take on a slightly more adult role. She actually gets to swear and the fact that she is no where close to being an action star works. Ruby Rose is just cool. She has a look,attitude,  and just a cool factor. 

   The guys who steal the show are Donnie Yen, who people loved in Rogue One, and Rory Mcann who Game of Thrones fan will know as the Hound. The latter is clearly the comic relief while Yen turns the action up a notch. The stunts border on ridiculous. The plot is a little bland. The dialogue is cheesy. The movie itself probably didn't need to be made. What XXX is good for is escape. Grab a coke and some popcorn and turn off the world for two hours. It will never connect like the Furious films, but the best part of XXX is the fact that it doesn't take itself serious and you shouldn't either.