One thing is for sure, Luc Besson really likes to think outside the box. That is pretty clear in what we have been seeing in the marketing campaign for his new film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. A new trailer dropped this morning, giving us another look at the space opera The Professional director has created. Some even call the film the spiritual successor to The Fifth Element. Judging by the looks of things, that is very true.
The one film you’d least expect to be so much fun while at the same time smashing the Bechdel test into pieces is xXx: Return of Xander Cage. But the Vin Diesel-starring vehicle does it with ease. Not only that, but it also celebrates some of the biggest global stars without painting them as a villain. It would be way too easy to look past this film, given that it is not part of a very successful franchise. However, the sequel doesn’t care about any of that. Instead, it raises the bar on absurd stunts and pushes the envelope on logic and physics. So much so that the film actually gets meta and pokes fun at itself. But really, if you look past all of that, you’ll see that it is actually a celebration of global stars and fierce women.
We got a chance recently to sit down with our fellow journalists to talk to Diesel and some of the cast of the film from Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, and Nina Dobrev to its director, D.J. Caruso. Each of one of them sharing the Diesel’s sentiment and all of them agreeing that it was so much fun to be a part of. Check out what they had to say here below.
xXx: Return of Xander Cage Director: D. J. Caruso Screenwriter: F. Scott Frazier Cast: Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, Toni Collette, Samuel L. Jackson Distributor: Paramount Pictures Rated PG-13 | 115 Minutes Release Date: January 20, 2017
It never ceases to amaze me how much passion Vin Diesel has in seemingly dead in the water projects. Fast and Furious and Riddick were two Diesel franchise vehicles that never really got off the ground when they launched, but because of his dedication to the fans, they got sequels. The former much more popular than the latter, but the actor took it upon himself to breathe new life into the xXx films with xXx: Return of Xander Cage.
Never let it be said that Diesel doesn’t know how to have fun, because in xXx: Return of Xander Cage, there is plenty of it. There’s no political message, no over-sexualization of either gender, and no xenophobic thoughts. Instead, the film treats us to something everyone can enjoy. My full review below.
Paramount Pictures has released the second trailer for xXx: Return of Xander Cage starring Vin Diesel as the title character. Diesel makes a return to the role after taking a brief (if you could call it that) hiatus. It is the second sequel of the franchise, with the first, directed by Rob Cohen, being released in 2002. It was then followed up by its mediocre sequel, xXx: State of the Union, in 2005, where Lee Tamahori took Cohen’s place as director and Ice Cube took on the title role from an absent Diesel.
So after nearly a decade of “development,” Diesel is back as Xander Cage, and he is facing a threat unlike any other he has faced before when four deadly action junkies like himself come across a very dangerous weapon. So it is up to Cage and his new recruits to stop them. Check out the trailer below.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press
