August 9, 2002 -- The name is Cage, Xander Cage. He's the new James Bond, except for the lack of elegance and sophistication. The big difference is this bond has lots of tattoos and the movie soundtrack is this heavy, pulsating techno-rock stuff. It is fun in a loud, cheeky kind of way.

Cage, played by Vin Diesel of "The Fast and the Furious," is a young, cocky, grungy secret agent who uses his skateboarding, motocross and snowboarding skills to accomplish his mission. He does not wear a tux and he wouldn't know a merlot from a chardonnay. He would not blend in with the Monte Carlo casino scene. He's more of a punk spy. After stealing a state senator's car and wrecking it in the name of video game freedom, he is caught and given the choice of becoming a secret agent or going to prison by NSA agent Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson of "Changing Lanes").

Cage's first assignment is to infiltrate a gang of Euro-trash anarchists called Anarchy 99 led by former Soviet soldier Yorgi (Marton Csokas of "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring"). The NSA figures Cage will fit right in with this bunch. During the infiltration, he gets involved with a woman in the gang, Yelena (Asia Argento). Eventually, it all comes down to a desperate race through the streets of Prague to save the world from destruction. You know the routine. Cage, like Bond is basically a loner, not a team player. He does things his own way. He does not take orders. He makes it up as he goes along. It turns out that he may be anti-establishment, but he is no anarchist, either. He is not dissimilar to Clint Eastwood's old character, Dirty Harry in that he has his own moral compass and his own methods for getting the job done.

As you would expect, there are a lot of explosions and death-defying stunts. Some of the stunts are so over the top I was laughing at them, like the impossibly high motorcycle jumps. The stunts were so ridiculous I was about the dismiss the whole movie out of hand, but then the two main characters kind of grew on me and I found myself rooting for them. Diesel is a very charismatic action hero, and he really shines in that role. He's a good actor too, as he showed in "Boiler Room," even though he is really not called on to do any serious acting here. The movie also has some funny comic lines in the form of wisecracks delivered by Diesel.

This is pretty obviously formula filmmaking from Rob Cohen, Neal H. Moritz and Vin Diesel, who combined for last year's surprise hit "The Fast and the Furious," with Diesel being the star, Cohen the director and Moritz the producer. Judging by the crowd of people I saw on opening night, the marketing for this film was spot on with a big quotient of teen boys and girls. The big question that remains to be answered is, will they come back for seconds and thirds? This is a better movie than "The Fast and the Furious," and it even taps into the same American fascination with cars in that there is a hot classic 1967 GTO in a climactic chase scene, not unlike the 1969 Charger muscle car Diesel drove in the final race scene in last year's hit movie. However, this film is less about cars and more about fancy Bond-like gadgets, like a pair of binoculars which allow the user to see through walls, or clothing.

"XXX" has a long way to go before it can match the longevity and success of the world's most successful movie franchise which it imitates, but it has made a good start. It has all the essential elements. A charismatic action hero star, an "M" (Jackson) pretty girls, a bad guy who wants to destroy civilization, and a "Q" (stand-up comic Michael Roof of "Black Hawk Down" plays the MIT graduate who assembles clever gadgets for the NSA operatives). It doesn't have the high-toned jet-set class of the Bond films, but it does have some great sunts. It is trying to cash in on the popularity of "extreme sports" with skateboard, motorcycle, snowboard and parachute stunts performed by such well-known practitioners as Tony Hawk, Mat Hoffman (freestyle BMX), Brian Deegan (freestyle motocross), Jason Ellis (skateboarding), Rick Thorne (freestyle BMX), Cary Hart (motocross), Mike Escamilla (freestyle bike), Colin McKay (skateboarding). All of these guys and more stuntmen also appeared in a party scene in the film at Cage's apartment. Kudos to stunt coordinators Lance Gilbert ("What Women Want") and James Arnett ("U-571," "Breakdown").

Although the film did have spectacular stunts, many of them involving motorcycles flying through the air just ahead of explosions and bullets, a successful Bond-like franchise requires some good characters to go with the eye candy. Aside from Diesel and Asia Argento (and even those characters had little depth), the characters in the film were paper thin. Even Samuel L. Jackson, a fine actor, was relegated to a rather minor role in the film, and his face was scarred up with makeup. He showed no dramatic depth. The same problem with unconvincing, thin characters was evident in last year's hit, "The Fast and the Furious." Cohen shows some of the same inventive visual style in "XXX" as he did in "The Fast and the Furious," and the same weaknesses. This film has a better plot, however. It actually makes sense. In order to come up to the level of the better Bond films, this series of "XXX" films is going to need better writing and direction. It takes more than stunt work to make a successful film franchise, and that, and Vin Diesel, is about all it has going for it now. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.