While a sequel ( xXx 4 ) has been stuck in development hell for nearly a decade, the 2017 film remains a time capsule of a specific moment in the late 2010s: when studios realized that gravity and storytelling were optional, but international co-stars were mandatory.
But here is where the story gets interesting. Domestically (U.S.), the film flopped, opening to just $20 million and capping out at $45 million. In a rational world, that is a failure. xxx return of xander cage (2017)
xXx: Return of Xander Cage didn’t just come back—it exploded back, complete with a self-aware wink, a roster of global misfits, and a plot that defied the laws of physics. The film opens with a classic Diesel trope: Xander Cage is dead. We learn he faked his death to live in exile. But when a doomsday device known as "Pandora’s Box" (a satellite control system that can drop space junk anywhere on Earth) is stolen, NSA Agent Jane Marke (Toni Collette) has no choice but to recruit the only man crazy enough to stop it. While a sequel ( xXx 4 ) has
★★½ (Three stars if you are drunk; Zero stars if you are a physicist). In a rational world, that is a failure
In the mid-2000s, the name "Xander Cage" was synonymous with a very specific kind of testosterone-fueled, Red Bull-infused anarchy. When Vin Diesel walked away from the franchise after 2005’s xXx: State of the Union (which starred Ice Cube), fans assumed the franchise was dead. Then, 12 years later, in the winter of 2017, Hollywood witnessed one of its most bizarre resurrections.
It is a bad movie. But it is also an incredibly fun one. If you turn your brain off, grab popcorn, and accept that a man can surf a motorcycle, xXx: Return of Xander Cage is the best 107-minute music video for "Gangnam Style" (which plays during the credits) you will ever see.