Cane – or at least the actor who portrayed him in “XXX” – is babysitting spoiled kids in “The Pacifier.” And his passing gets a sliver of dialogue between a couple of suited federal agents in the disappointing sequel, “XXX: State of the Union.”
How could it have happened? Not Cane’s demise. Even the filmmakers of this cynical exercise in franchise building are prepared to 1) go off the grid b) think out of the box, c) pick up a new roughneck to train for new missions in each installment d) any and all of the above clich s in casting these flicks.
No, the puzzler is: How did this version take an often personable performer like Ice Cube and make you hanker for Vin Diesel’s block-of-wood method of acting?
Uncanny as it is, about the time this quandary begins to form, the gearhead sidekick (played by Michael Roof) says to Cube’s Darius Stone, “X, I’m starting to miss the old triple.” After all, the old
“triple” could do a lot of things: ski, seduce, ride a
serving tray down a banister (cool). The new one, well, he sure can scowl. And in “State of the Union,” there’s a lot for Stone to glower about.
Alas, the state of the union is more fragile than the president (Peter Strauss) knows. His secretary of defense, George Deckert (Willem Dafoe), on the other hand, is well aware of an impending coup.
At a bucolic horse farm, the thoroughbreds are restive. If the impending invasion of this high-tech NSA hideout looks like the Empire’s storm troopers attacking, it comes by this naturally. Cinematographer David Tattersall was the lensman for George Lucas’ second trilogy.
Agent Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) realizes that he and members of his former military unit are the targets of this and other attacks. He needs a new XXX – one, he tells gearhead sidekick, “with more attitude.” Cue the rap music. Visit a prison.
There was always a chance that the Ice Cube who showed up to play a former Navy SEAL (the elite du jour these days) would be the growling monotoner of “Torque” and not the more fluid performer from the “Barbershop” movies. That guy can go from furious to funny – fast. The only time Stone smiles is when he pretends to be a Southern Baptist minister taking a National Rifle Association lobbyist to task. It’s a rare moment of levity in a humorless foray of noise and fast-cuts signifying nothing much.
Good soldiers with bad attitudes is the hook here. Stone was sent to the clink by Deckert for disobeying a lousy order years earlier, when Deckert, Gibbons and Stone were all playing for the same team, with the same rules.
Dafoe does the best work in the film, underplaying the secretary’s call to smarm. This isn’t saying much; there’s nothing indelible about his baddie.
Nona Gaye – with special guest stars pouring out of her black dress – is Stone’s former girlfriend, Lo, who once ran a chop shop. She now owns a high-end car dealership.
Sunny Mabrey plays a Washington insider who helps and flirts with Stone. She is also the player in a scene that samples shamelessly from “Total Recall.”
There is one inventive bone in this movie littered with bodies. When Stone needs backup he can trust, he takes it to the ‘hood. The notion of District homies (rapper Xzibit plays the new owner of the robust chop-shop biz) saving the capitol from its own venal power brokers has a deep appeal. If only this film really knew what to do with this bright idea.
Instead the makers are satisfied with its characters going on a joy ride in a tank and quoting Tupac for street cred.
When Stone first learns his new designation, he says it sounds like a porn star. And like that adult entertainment genre, this is pop-porn that struts its PG-13 violence, counts on us to be ready and willing for every one of its cheap, predictable tricks.
Not one of us should be that easy.
Film critic Lisa Kennedy can be reached at 303-820-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com.
* 1/2
“XXX: State of the Union”
PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence and some language|1 hour, 41 minutes |ACTION|Directed by Lee Tamahori; written by Simon Kinberg; photography by David Tattersall; starring Ice Cube, Samuel L. Jackson, Willem Dafoe, Scott Speedman, Michael Roof, Peter Strauss, Sunny Mabrey, Nona Gaye, Xzibit|Opens today at area theaters.
