Premise - When extreme sports star Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) finishes his most recent stunt he is picked up by a shadowy government organisation. His choice? Work as a spy and go undercover in Prague or go to jail. xXx delivered exactly what I expected, loud music, big explosions, cheesy dialogue, sexy women and amazing stunts. It's a thrill ride, you don't so much watch xXx as experience it. Just when you think the stunts can't get any more outrageous, they do just that. The film raises the bar continuously throughout till the insanely over the top finale. Yes, a film like this lives or dies by the quality of the action on show and xXx doesn't fall short in that category. Director Rob Cohen (Whom worked with Vin Diesel on last years 'The Fast and The Furious') can handle action, we know that from his previous work, but here he take sit to the xth degree (sorry, bad pun). There is so much action in the film that when things slow down for a bit of exposition the film feels ridiculously flat. Only the charisma of star Vin Diesel stops these scenes from becoming intolerable. Vin Diesel is one of those oh so rare beasts these days, a bonafide action movie star. Since the golden age of action movies in the mid to late 80's Hollywood has been desperately searching for the next Arnie, the nest Sly or the next Bruce. Well they need look no further because Vin Diesel is their man. Sure, he isn't the most gifted of actors, but what he lacks in ability he more than makes up for in raw charisma and screen presence. Few in cinema history could get away with uttering the kind of cheesy one liners that litter these types of films, Arnie did it with aplomb (Knock-Knock anyone?) and Vin takes them in his stride also. He oozes with confidence on the screen and it's hard not to warm to the man. Kicking ass, spouting one-liners or bedding women, Vin is cool as a cucumber and is destined to be one of the biggest action stars for the foreseeable future. Vin's giant charisma dominates the film, but keep an eye out for Samuel L. Jackson in a nice little role as his boss. If anyone was going to be able to trade metaphorical blows with Vin on the big screen it was Mr Cool himself Sam Jackson. Also good is horror legend Dario Argento's daughter Asia. She is incredibly sultry and practically melts the screen when she's on it. The perfect romantic foil for Vin. Things like script and character development aren't overly important in this type of film and it's probably just as well because this film has none. The script is as cheesy and clichéd as they come and the characters (outside of Xander Cage) are mostly cardboard cut-outs. Especially the tried and tested eurotrash badguy. What's the deal with action films that the badguy must be of eastern European origin? Frankly, it's getting a little old. If you go in with your expectations at the correct level (i.e. low) then xXx delivers as a no-brainer, popcorn action flick. Fantastic stunts, amazing action and a charismatic lead performance make this one worth seeing.

7/10 for xXx. Poster Quote - Action fans wouldn't give a xXx for anything else.