| xXx: State of the Union | |
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Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Lee Tamahori |
| Produced by | Neal H. Moritz Arne Schmidt Executive Producer: Rob Cohen Derek Dauchy Todd Garner |
| Written by | Simon Kinberg Rich Wilkes |
| Starring | Ice Cube Willem Dafoe Scott Speedman Peter Strauss Samuel L. Jackson Xzibit Sunny Mabrey |
| Music by | Marco Beltrami |
| Cinematography | David Tattersall |
| Editing by | Mark Goldblatt Todd E. Miller Steven Rosenblum |
| Studio | Revolution Studios Original Film |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 27, 2005 |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $113.1 million[1] |
| Box office | $71,022,693[2] |
xXx: State of the Union, mainly released as xXx²: The Next Level outside the United States and Canada, is a 2005 action-adventure film directed by Lee Tamahori. It is a sequel to the 2002 film xXx (pronounced "triple x"). The film was produced by Revolution Studios for Columbia Pictures.
Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen, the lead actor and director of the original had signed onto this film before xXx had opened, but both dropped out; Cohen remained an executive producer. Actor/rapper Ice Cube takes over the lead role as the new xXx and Tamahori was brought in to direct following the huge commercial success of the James Bond film Die Another Day which he directed.
Two different scripts were made for this film, and the one written by Simon Kinberg was selected. The other script featured a radically different plot, possibly serving as the basis for another sequel. State of the Union underperformed at the box office, and was criticized heavily by critics (the first installment's reception was mixed) - mainly for the poor performance of its star, illogical story and overuse of CGI-influenced visual effects for most of the action sequences as opposed to live-action stunts being filmed.
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A man is tending an equine farm when he discovers dead bodies, and is killed by one of the assailants himself. More attackers then use special explosives to break into an NSA bunker beneath the equine farm. There, NSA Agent Gibbons (Jackson) fends off the attackers before barely escaping with tech assistant Shavers (Roof). Secretary of Defense George Deckert (Dafoe) informs the President (Strauss) about this; the concerned President is already busy preparing for his State of the Union speech. Sgt. Cobb (Connolly) is later revealed to be responsible for the attack on the bunker.
After escaping the attack Gibbons tells Shavers the new xXx must be more off the grid and have more attitude. While investigating the attack on the NSA bunker, Agent Kyle Steele (Speedman) is informed that Xander Cage (the protagonist of the previous film played by Vin Diesel) has been killed in Bora Bora. Gibbons later meets up with Lieutenant Darius Stone (Ice Cube) who was incarcerated at Leavenworth for 20 years whilst serving in the Navy for disobeying orders and breaking General Deckert's jaw after a disagreement. Gibbons poses as Stone's lawyer and makes a deal with him. Stone makes a daring escape soon thereafter, aided by Gibbons and Shavers. Stone reacquaints himself with his ex-girlfriend Lola (Gaye) who runs an exotic car shop, and his old gang leader Zeke (Xzibit) who now runs Lola's chop shop.
Stone is later told to recover a hard drive from the NSA bunker, after which he and Shavers manage to escape Steele and his men. Some time later, Gibbons appears to be attacked in his home and murdered, with Deckert covering up the plot. Afterwards, Stone meets up with Gibbons' contact, a beautiful blonde named Charlie (Mabrey), to get information and go to her safe house, but is framed so that it will appear that he murdered 3-Star General Pettibone, who was actually killed by Cobb and Charlie.
The police and Steele arrive; Steele enters the house and makes a deal with Stone before allowing him to escape, while Shavers later hacks into the NSA to retrieve Deckert's plans. Afterwards, Stone infiltrates Deckert's troops aboard the USS Independence and discovers Gibbons is not dead, but being held prisoner by Deckert and Cobb. Stone realizes Deckert is planning a coup and wants to frame Gibbons and his unit to take the fall. When Charlie discovers Stone, he knocks her out and fights his way out of the ship.
Stone contacts Steele and shows him Deckert's plans; stating his view that Deckert is plotting to attack the Capitol. He leaves in frustration when Steele does not believe him. However, during a conversation between Steele and Deckert, Deckert lets it slip that he knows that Gibbons is still alive. Steele, realizing that Stone was right, teams up with Stone and informs him that Deckert wants to assassinate the president and his successors during the State of the Union so that he can take his place and veto the President's liberal-minded bill on foreign policy.
Stone enlists the aid of Zeke and his crew to fight Deckert's force and obtains assault weapons from a hijacked truck (disguised as a civilian truck transporting cheese). On the night of Deckert's plan and the President's speech they make their move, driving though the back alleys of DC. Zeke and his crew manage to commandeer a tank and they head for the Capitol building. Stone and Steele free Gibbons, who kills Charlie in retaliation. Deckert, along with Cobb, manages to abduct the President while he is making the State of the Union Address; they board an emergency Presidential bullet train to escape.
Stone pursues the bullet train in a custom-made Ford Shelby Cobra Concept delivered by Lola and makes it aboard the train; destroying the car in the process. Steele and Gibbons follow them on a Black Hawk helicopter. After fighting and killing Cobb, Stone fights Deckert while Steele helps the President board the adjacent helicopter to escape, with Steele getting shot by Deckert in the process. Stone leaps from the fleeing train while Gibbons destroys it with a missile, killing Deckert.
The President awards an injured Steele and the absent Stone (classified as "The Unknown Soldier") the Medal of Honor, as Stone goes back to his thug-esque lifestyle. Deckert receives full honors at his funeral, somewhat to Stone's disgust. He and Lola part with her leaving him a Mustang he admired earlier, and he drives off; the xXx tattoo can be seen on the back of his neck.
The last scene shifts to the now rebuilt NSA Headquarters, where we see Gibbons, Steele and Shavers discussing what the next xXx agent should be; farther off the grid, a fresh face, a new model. To which Gibbons replies "I got the perfect candidate."
A soundtrack containing hip hop and alternative rock was released on April 26, 2005 through Jive Records. It peaked at #117 on the Billboard 200, #48 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #5 on the Top Soundtracks.
Though the film was expected to be one of the summer blockbusters of 2005, it performed poorly, both critically and financially. Rotten Tomatoes scores it a "Rotten" 16% as of October 4, 2008.[3] Boo Allen of the Denton Record Chronicle called Ice Cube's version of xXx "a chubby, surly, incomprehensible action hero".[4] Brian Orndorf of FilmJerk.com compared watching the movie to running "headfirst at top speed into a brick wall".[5] David Hiltbrand of the Philadelphia Inquirer said "the plot swings between pathetically implausible and aggressively stupid".[6] However, some critics liked the film. Mack Bates of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel praised Ice Cube's "trademark charisma and street sensibility",[7] while Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly called it "that rare B movie that’s rooted in gut-level stirrings of power and retaliation".[8] Paul Arendt of the BBC said, "Viewed on its own trashy terms, it succeeds brilliantly".[9]
Financially, the film was a disappointment with a gross of only $12.7 million on its opening weekend, half of what it was expected to earn. It went on to gross only $26,873,932 domestically and $71,022,693 worldwide.[2] xXx: State of the Union was such a disappointment that it was widely believed to be the death of the xXx franchise. However, it has been reported that Vin Diesel has agreed to star in a sequel, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.[10]
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