2000’s Action Sequel Flop Replaced Its Star Gets Deserved Second Chance On Netflix
Posted by Jonathan Klotz | Published
In the 2000s, Vin Diesel didn’t want to make any more sequels. 2 Fast 2 Furiouss replaced him with Tyrese Gibson, too XXX: State of the Union stuck Ice Cube in his palace as a new hire in Samuel L. Jackson’s secret program. The 2005 sequel to Diesel’s radical reimagining of the secret agent movies was further proof that audiences loved Diesel, not fast cars or skateboarding down a mountain to break into a terrorist cell. Now that XXX: State of the Union is on Netflix and is far from the biggest disappointment of Ice Cube’s broadcast to be streamed and judged on its own as an action film. And it’s not bad….not bad!
Ice Cube Has No Vin Diesel
Ice Cube’s Darius Stone isn’t a video game extreme athlete like Diesel’s Xander Cage, instead he’s a disgraced Navy SEAL serving time in a military prison for breaking General Deckert’s (Willem Dafoe) jaw. The swagger Cube brings to his portrayal of Stone is a stark contrast to the anti-authority attitude Diesel brought to Cage. Instead of walking around like the coolest guy in the room, Stone walks around like the toughest guy in the room. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just different.
Under the leadership of Agent Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) as part of the XXX program, Stone uncovers a government conspiracy, is framed for murder, goes up against his old SEAL unit, and naturally, blows up most of Washington DC in the process. As far as action movie programs are concerned, there is nothing revolutionary about it, which is why the audience rejected it XXX succession.
State of the Union Traditional Action Film
XXX it arrived in 2002 at the perfect time when the James Bond style of spy movies had already been done by Austin Powers and the X Games had become must-see TV. In the opening scene of the movie, a spy in a tuxedo is killed because he can’t cover a Rammstein concert. The world had changed. The culture had changed. Spy movies never change. XXX: State of the Union it was a step back. Well built with a great set of closures (trains are always amazing), but a step back.
Giving more screen time to Samuel L. Jackson was not the answer, and the less earthly explanation that Xander Cage was killed in Bora Bora turned off many fans. Combined, i XXX the sequel failed to recoup its production budget. No wonder the franchise was put on ice until 2017 XXX: The Return of Xander Cage.
Ice Cube was a better fit. His appearance in the third film caused theaters to explode, which seems ironic given how they rejected his original appearance as Darius Stone, but between 2005 and 2017, 21 Jump Street it happened. Ice Cube wasn’t meant to play a rebel who defies authority, he was meant to play authority against everyone who refuses to play by the book. Unlike his jokes, XXX: State of the Union perfectly acceptable entertainment. At least it’s not that bad Ghosts of Mars.
