xXx: Return of Xander Cage

Directed by D.J. Caruso Released in 2017 Genre of Action Themes of: politics, loyalty, conspiracy, teamwork This film is the third film in the xXx trilogy. Since I haven't seen either of the first two, I conducted a little experiment to see if this film was still enjoyable to anybody who hadn't seen either of the previous movies. And I must say it was. The plot was a stand alone plot and had very minimal reliance on the previous two films from what I could tell and while I'm sure I would've enjoyed it more if I had seen the previous films, the only thing I was missing out on was some references that I didn't quite get until I looked into the rest of the series. For example the reappearance of classic characters. As for the mise-en-scene, the film looks stunning, but that's to be expected with a budget of 85'000'000. Lots of beautiful exotic locations, effects and action. However it didn't do much to really bring anything new into the genre of action. But I think this was the point of the whole movie. It tried to be as classic action as physically possible. A-B list celebrities, cheesy one-liners and over the top action sequences that are impossible in reality. It stuck to what people love in the genre and didn't really try to explore foreign territory. This means the mise-en-scene didn't create much meaning but that doesn't mean it was bad. It still served it's purpose in creating the scene well and quickly telling the audience with no words where they were and when. For example when we first saw the military operation that tried to recruit Xander Cage, it was obvious how official and by the book they were, in contrast to what we've already seen Xander do. The suits, the official uniforms and high grade equipment told us immediately that this was a government funded project. In the opposite fashion, all of Xander's comrades were all famously mischievous and didn't follow any sort of rulebook. Everything about them told us this, including their costumes. Just look at Adele, portrayed by Ruby Rose, and her green hair. It makes her stand out as a rebel towards the army that are trying to enlist her help and sets up this everlasting theme of conflict between Xander and his crew and the government officials that are begrudgingly working together.