Grade:  C

Director:  Rob Cohen		Released:  August 2002
Writer:  Rich Wilkes		MPAA Rating:  PG-13
Players:  Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson, Asia Argento		Running time:  124 minutes

Ratings System

I think it's clear that Rob Cohen attended the Bruckheimer/Bay school of filmmaking.  Lots of high-speed action and 'splosions to divert your attention away from the story.  There are numerous occasions when Xander will do things that seem to have no purpose whatsoever except to show off cool effects or stunt work.  Why exactly was he trying to snowboard down that mountain?  To access a mansion that he has already sneaked into/around a few times already?  What, did they beef up security after the last time he snuck in?

Stupid plot points aside ... there are some cool stunts, and the Xander character works pretty well as an extreme version of James Bond.  The first 45 minutes or so are immensely more enjoyable than the rest of the picture, which bogs down into a standard race-against-the-clock finale.  As an example, an early sequence which involves Xander stealing a corvette and launching it off a bridge is entirely gratuitous, but it's great!  I wouldn't stop you from seeing this, but I wouldn't call it a "great" action film either.  The good and bad balance each other, making it a pretty average flick.

No matter how hard I try, I just can't throw common sense out the door when watching movies like this.  I can let some things slide as long as an explanation is at least attempted.  But when they edit scenes to leave out the key ingredient to a stunt, how can I accept that?  When I see Xander jumping his bike 20 feet in the air and through an opening in a barbed wire fence, (while I admire the stunt) how can I be expected to accept it when they don't show how he gets off the ground.  Am I supposed to think he ollied his way up there?  Let's try to keep things plausible, folks.  Not possible, just plausible.

- crocoPuffs