XXX

In the high-octane car-jacking actioner 'The Fast and the Furious', director Rob Cohen and leadman Vin Diesel proved they knew just what gets adolescent male filmgoers' engines firing. The pair have now reunited in 'XXX' with a similar formula (young thrill-seeking outlaw lives life on the edge), but this time with a much larger budget. The film is totally upfront about its pursuit of the male teen dollar: the production company logo in the opening frames reads 'Revolution Studios' (for all you rebels out there); the title looks like a rating (promising something illicit, an Xtra Xtreme Xperience); and the first scene takes place in a concert hall (with Rammstein playing themselves playing the sort of hard metal that all parents hate).

'XXX' is, as its own publicity suggests, a repackaging of the James Bond formula for a new, younger audience. There's an M character (Agent Augustus Gibbons, played by Samuel L. Jackson), but in contrast with his crusty English equivalent, Gibbons is 'pretty fast for an old man' (and, in fact, not an old man). Similarly Agent Shavers (Michael Roof) shows off the hardware with Q-like zeal, but he is a preppy young man. The biggest innovation is Diesel's Xander Cage (aka X). He is the secret agent in the field, but unlike his counterpart Bond, his schooling comes from the streets (rather than Eton), his experience is from videogames and extreme sports (rather than the armed services), and he lives only for partying and the rush of adrenalin (rather than Queen and Country) - AND he does not like killing people.

This film is full of sound and fury, and does not pretend to signify anything. Vin Diesel cuts a charismatic figure as the delinquent tearaway whose heart is in the right place, and Asia Argento (giallo director Dario's daughter) oozes contempt as the mysterious love-interest Yelena. 'XXX' has all the slick one-liners, explosive set-pieces and daft stunts that one expects from a Bond film, but manages to push them that little bit further, and is full of a youthful vitality that the Bond films lost years ago. Still, there is a certain cynicism in this film's desperate bid for teen credibility. When, early in the film, a woman suggests to X that 'an athlete like you should really have your own videogame', X's friend responds 'You know he's never gonna sell out'. Unlike the film company, that is, who have already started production on 'XXX 2', and will no doubt be marketing an 'XXX' videogame.

Anton Bitel