Review: 'XXX: State of the Union' packs plenty of thrills, few frills
Posted Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 5:14 PM Central
by John Couture
Most times, sequels tend to be nothing more than formulaic regurgitations of the original movie. Refreshingly, XXX: State of the Union breaks the mold and gives the viewer a unique experience within the XXX world.
Samuel L. Jackson is pretty much the only key returnee as the head of the nefarious CIA special ops outfit responsible for XXX, a new breed of covert agents. Ice Cube takes on the namesake and must act quickly with a cadre of questionable characters to prevent a militaristic coup.
Don't worry, there's no Oliver Stone in this movie. The action is front and center and it delivers on the same level as the original. Through the evolution of XXX, it seems that there's less emphasis on extreme sports and more common sense spy activity that worked so well for TV fare such as Alias.
VIDEO Sony gives the consumer two options at the point of sale, which is really almost superfluous, as a movie such XXX: State of the Union needs to be seen in a Widescreen presentation. The action sequences and the rich locations demand a true representation that the Full Screen version lacks.
Overall, the transfer is near pristine and the color remain rich and vibrant. The scenes set in near darkness stand out and provide the viewer with a crisp view of the movie.
AUDIO The one thing that is lacking on this disc is DTS audio track. With the separate Full Screen/Widescreen offerings and the relative lack of Special Features on this disc, it would have been nice to have a DTS track.
Otherwise, the audio is clean and the 5.1 Dolby Digital track delivers everything that you could ask of it. SPECIAL FEATURES As seen recently with the XXX special edition offering, it seems that the filmmakers are keeping some of the good stuff for inclusion on a XXX: State of the Union special edition.
The filmmakers commentary is thorough and enjoyable, but the special effects commentary was unnecessary and took precious space away from more deserving inclusions.
The making of feature is a nice collaborative effort and really helps to fill the viewer in on the series of movies. However, the other featurettes on the disc tend to weigh down the viewer and really only offer the serious film student any real benefit.
The deleted scenes are nice and add depth to the complex story line. However, by only including three scenes, it feels as though the viewer is being teased by the filmmakers of what is going to come in the future.
One item that is only mentioned in the movie in passing for like 2 seconds is the fate of Vin Diesel's XXX. In the aforementioned special edition DVD released to correspond with the theatrical release of this movie, they actually shot a 5 minute sequence that shows his demise and helps to bridge the two movies together. It would have been a nice inclusion on this disc for those who didn't rush out and buy their second copy of XXX on DVD.
RECOMMENDATION
This movie is well made and the action sequences raise the bar for all movies that follow in its wake. As for the DVD, it is better than average, but it is lacking some obvious items that would have made this a sure bet "Buy."
As it stands, this version should be rented. Save your money for the special edition. With any luck, you'll get a better offering and a movie ticket for a free screening of XXX 3.