xXx: Return of Xander Cage – 4K UHD Blu-Ray Movie Review

In spite of being killed off in the second installment of this franchise, Xander Cage returns to the xXx agency, because after all, the World needs him. After coming out of self-imposed exile and on a collision course with deadly alpha warrior Xiang and his team, Xander races to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora’s Box. Recruiting an all-new group of thrill-seeking cohorts, Xander finds himself enmeshed in a deadly conspiracy that points to collusion at the highest levels of world governments.

I did see the first movie, skipped the second because I saw the first, and got to watch this silly, noisy rehash of insane CGI action sequences punctuated by extremely loud explosions and heavy metal music. Hey, the theme here is “extreme”. The stunts and noise are designed to distract the viewer from realizing that the plot is virtually non-existent and Diesel’s acting skills are no better than a potato. The plot revolves around a device that causes satellites to fall out of Earth’s orbit and land on specific people with pin point accuracy. “Holy Chicken Little, Batman!”.

Cage and his handpicked team of professional butt kickers shoot, stomp, fly, ride motorcycles on ocean waves and blow up buildings in order to retrieve the device for the US government. But wait! The US government is bad, too. I didn’t see that coming (sarcasm). The film does poke fun at itself, but did the second installment with Ice Cube really warrant this sequel? Or is this a cash grab by Diesel who is riding high in popularity with his fast and frivolous automobile movies. What do you think?

To be fair, the movie is not meant to be anything other than entertainment and in a mindless sort of way, it succeeds. This is the kind of movie that drives adolescent boys into the movie theater on a Friday night. The fight scenes are “fast and furious” but they were nothing that we all haven’t seen many times before. The over use of CGI added to the feeling of laziness in storytelling. It does provide eye and ear candy for your home theater, but there are better choices out there if that’s what you are craving.

The film does sport an outstanding picture with some really nice colors and contrasts. Details are razor sharp throughout and the WCG/HDR makes the primary colors of red, green, blue and yellow noticeably more solid and richer. Specular highlights are quite nice, too, with dazzling sunlight and fiery explosions. The sound is super punchy and the assault on your ears begins with the raucous opening title credit soundtrack with some mega bass bursting out of the sub.

Surrounds are almost always engaged, giving each scene some sonic depth and ambience. Dialog is clear, but Vin mumbles too many of his lines. I guess tough guys just grunt and mutter a lot these days.

• Included are a BD copy of the movie and: Third Time’s the Charm: Xander Returns, Rebels, Tyrants & Ghosts: The Cast, Opening Pandora’s Box: On Location, I Live for This Sh#t!: Stunts, and if the movie wasn’t funny enough, a Gag Reel.