TripleX delivers on its promises

Going to the movies is all about expectations. If I go to a Steven Soderbergh movie, I expect witty, fast-paced dialogue and dynamic characters. From a David Lynch film, I expect the plot to represent the incomprehensible ramblings of a dedicated crack-smoker. And if I watch a Woody Allen flick, I expect that I should bring along a revolver so I can blow my brains out halfway through and spare myself the agony of his constant neuroses.

Therefore, one cannot go to see Vin Diesel in XXX, expecting an intricate plot or heavy character development. The previews are clear: XXX is an "action movie." As far as I'm concerned, action movies can (and usually do) treat the plot with little more than a nod. If I'm seeing action, I want to see cool stunts, shit getting blown up and possibly some scantily clad chicks. XXX delivers on all three fronts.

Diesel and a myriad of steroids star as Xander "XXX" Cage, an extreme-sportin', law-breakin', underground Internet cult-hero who has a crew videotape his various death-defying stunts and then put them on the Web. Samuel L. Jackson is the ambiguous Agent Gibbons, some sort of National Security Agency higher-up who decides Xander would be the perfect man to penetrate a Prague-based terrorist group called "Anarchy '99." The NSA suspects Anarchy '99 has aspirations of (surprise!) destroying the world, and Gibbons gives XXX a choice: work for the NSA and infiltrate the terrorist organization as a secret agent, or go to jail for his transgressions against the law.

Director Rob Cohen (who also directed Diesel in The Fast and the Furious) banks on the enormity of the action sequences rather than the complexity of the plot to keep the audience interested. The movie opens with a chase through a pulsing European techno-metal concert, and although the finale of the battle is somewhat unspectacular, the setting (complete with shrieking fans, brain-jarring music and a huge collection of randomly placed flames erupting from the stage) provides an intense, over-the-top introduction to what is in store for the next two hours.

Diesel stars in the majority of the action, and is usually accompanied by either a fast-moving vehicle or a barrage of fanciful weaponry (often both). Of course, very few of the action scenes contain even a hint of realism, but who cares? When Diesel jumps over a 50-foot wall on a motorcycle while performing a Superman stunt and (with stunning accuracy) shooting a man between the eyes with a very big gun, it's obvious that the laws of physics don't apply. But that's what movies like XXX are for.

As for the topic of shit getting blown up: my, does shit get blown up frequently in XXX. Almost every scene seems to have some sort of shit (whether it be structure, person or vehicle) erupting, exploding or combusting in an enormous fireball. Many action movies rely on explosions to stand as their own separate entities, but Cohen uses the explosions to enhance the stunts rather than draw attention away from them. Imagine Diesel performing the stunt outlined in the above paragraph. Now, imagine it while he's emerging from the midst of a huge, fiery pit. Such is the wonderful ridiculousness of XXX.

Diesel, to his credit, manages to deliver the token catchphrases required of any action star with decent timing. Phrases like "welcome to the Xander Zone" and "oh, the things I'm going to do for my country" are a little painful to watch, but hey, Vin didn't write the script. His biceps, swathed in tattoos and large enough for orangutans to swing on, receive enough screen time to merit their own line in the credits. Jackson seems to coast through his role as Agent Gibbons, but performances by Marton Csokas as "The Bad Guy" and Asia Argento as "Scantily Clad Female" are surprisingly above average, at least by action-flick standards.

If it's a clever story or deep character development you seek for a night at the movies, then you'd better forget about XXX. But if you want to see cool stunts, shit getting blown up, and scantily clad females running amok (or if you're just hammered to all hell), then do yourself a favor and check it out.