XXX--State of the Union

If it weren't for Ice Cube's charismatic bad attitude, this paper-doll sequel with paper-thin performances and a video-game plot would be downright unwatchable. A sorry attempt to ride the explosion-shredded coattails of 2002's XXX without bringing back its star (Vin Diesel wanted a laughable $25 million to return as his extreme-sports-jock spy character), State of the Union revolves around a ridiculously implausible presidential coup planned by an arch-conservative Secretary of Defense (teeth-gritting Willem Dafoe). Cube plays a Navy SEAL imprisoned for insubordination, who's busted out by loose-cannon National Security Agency honcho Samuel L. Jackson (tough-guying his way to an easy paycheck) and deputized to fight gadget-laden baddies in black body armor. Why would the NSA need a lone prison escapee to investigate and thwart a takeover of the U.S. government? Director Lee Tamahori (who helped dumb down the last James Bond movie) doesn't really care as long as the next 5,000-round shoot-out, five-story fireball or $500,000 sports-car chase is just around the corner. But the non-stop pageant of overblown action set pieces is so routine it's downright boring, and the lack of security in terrorism-alert-savvy Washington, D.C., would insult the intelligence of even the most undemanding action-flick fan. Not recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Lee Tamahori and writer Simon Kinberg; the other by visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar and CG-supervisor Lindy DeQuattro), a 22-minute “making-of” featurette, a “Top Secret Military Wherehouse” featurette (9 min.), a bullet train scene breakdown (6 min.), “XXX According to Ice Cube” (6 min.), three deleted scenes with optional director's commentary (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a disappointing sequel.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Aug. 19, 2008—Sony, 101 min., PG-13, $28.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2005’s XXX: State of the Union sports a decent transfer with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. The bonus features on this release are identical to those on the standard DVD version, including two audio commentaries (one by director Lee Tamahori and writer Simon Kinberg; the other by visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar and CG-supervisor Lindy DeQuattro), a 22-minute “making-of” featurette, a “Top Secret Military Wherehouse” featurette (9 min.), a six-minute breakdown of the bullet train scene, a six-minute “XXX: According to Ice Cube” featurette with the star, three deleted scenes with optional commentary by Tamahori (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: although it looks nice on Blu-ray, this is still a bad sequel.]