In Rob Cohen's numbing hit 2002 action-packed spy thriller xXx, muscle-bound misfit Vin Diesel played an extreme sports athlete turned risk-taking secret agent named Xander Cage. Naturally Diesel's trademark monosyllabic persona and the excitable recklessness of that movie's aimless mayhem helped turn this visually boisterous actioner into a hyperactive sensation.

XXX: State of the Union (2005) Columbia Pictures
1 hour 34 minutes. Starring: Ice Cube, Samuel L. Jackson, Scott Speedman, Willem Dafoe, Michael Roof, Peter Strauss, Nona Gaye, Masuimi Max, Ramon De Ocampo, Lola Jackson. Directed by: Lee Tamahori.

Three years later, New Zealand director Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day) applies his pronounced chaotic touch in the baseless and formulaic second instalment XXX: State of the Union. Tamahori, no stranger to the frenetic flourishes that drive the James Bond flicks beyond distinction, furiously ignites State with an absurd and overwrought frivolity that's invitingly tiring.

The intention was obviously to outdo the durable yet passé Bond movies by serving up an eye-popping premise that promises a new breed of an intriguing danger man out to capture the imagination of indiscriminate thrill-seeking movie buffs. However, State remains nothing more than a nonsensical and noisy diversion that wallows in its glossed-over big-budgeted B-movie banality.

Although XXX: State of the Union tries to gallantly top the familiar outrageous patterns that make up the universal appeal of the aging Bond film series, Tamahori curiously doesn't stray away from the run-of-the-mill blueprint that is Agent 007's cinematic livelihood. Noticeably, Diesel's Xander Cage is nowhere in sight and gives way to rapper-actor Ice Cube to head the inconceivable festivities in this notoriously raucous and brainless entry.

Cube assumes the surly skin of Darius Stone, a hardened ex-con asked to go on a risky mission in the name of his endangered country. National Security Agency big shot Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson reprising his role from the original film) taps the unshakable Stone for perilous duty. When the government is in jeopardy and about to be overthrown by conniving conspirators, Gibbons enlists the daredevil detainee Stone who certainly has nothing to lose at this point.

Bouncing from one compromising predicament to another, Stone must engage in some colourful fight sequences and other manoeuvres in order to uphold the safety of the nation's interests with his carefree albeit cocky courageousness. The pinnacle of Stone's complex assignment will eventually lead up to the President's State of the Union address. Plus, the shady Secretary of State (Willem Dafoe) will play a prominent role in the unstable nature of the Capitol's guarded affairs.

For a so-called stimulating political pot-boiler that dares to roar in all its bombastic glory, XXX: State of the Union is a mere whisper in terms of savvy execution. Tamahori and screenwriter Simon Kinberg have no real inspiration for scripting a fast track fable that percolates with vigour. Instead, the movie lazily rests its hedonistic head on the obligatory exaggerated explosions and assorted empty-minded car chases and/or casual crashes without once offering any degree of depth behind such flippant destruction.

The computer-generated imagery that is behind State's garish thud of wayward machines and blistering soundtrack music is akin to blankly staring at an overactive video game meant to tediously drain your senses. Overall, this pumped-up production is more awkward and jumpy than a highly paid streetwalker attending a Sunday afternoon Bible meeting!

As for the film's top dog Cube, he's actually comfortable as the trash-talking terror-seeker armed with standby one-liners and the roguish charisma to match his brashness. But somehow Cube is never entirely challenged by his alter ego Darius Stone in some respects. For instance, his dialogue is riddled with incomprehensible and silly-minded throwaway quips that occasionally deem him as distracting and inarticulate.

Predictably, Cube's Stone has the eye for the ladies as well as the convenient instincts for sordid adventures that hastily awaits him. And look, Cube gets to play dress up in a few disguises for the sake of the movie's shot at stilted humour! But how is his take of a suave unorthodox agent any dynamic, different or devilish from other chest-pounding anti-heroes that we have witnessed in countless over-the-top giddy spy genres before?

Sadly, XXX: State of the Union is nothing but a protrusive piece of political piffle that shoots off its loud and laughable mouth without having anything really to say. The predecessor wasn't anything special to write home about but it at least remained focused as a mindless big screen escapist flick you could attach a joystick to and manipulate your self-satisfaction without feeling cheated in some aspects.

Frank Ochieng

(c) Frank Ochieng 2005