Cast: Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, Toni Collette, Samuel L. Jackson

Rating: 2/5

The third in its series, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage has finally released in India after a lot of build-up which was created because Bollywood’s next export, Deepika Padukone, is part of the film.  Directed by DJ Caruso, it is her Hollywood debut and lot of expectation in already in the air, ever since the release of the trailer. What makes this more special and anticipating is the fact that the film releases in India before anywhere else in the world.

Okay…

So we are informed that Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) has been considered dead for many years now, but he actually isn’t. After observing a threat in the xXx program, the new chief of NSA Jane Marke (Toni Collette) insists on Cage’s return and seeks his help to overcome the trouble.  It so happens that the Pandora’s Box gets stolen from the CIA by a group of mercenaries, led by Xiang (Donnie Yen), and our girl Serena (Deepika Padukone) is one of them. Cage agrees to offer help, and form a strong squad, as they face Xiang and his mates. Yes, they successfully complete the mission. But what all do they go through? Who all do they face? How do they work together? All this makes the interesting part of this xXx film.

The cast is quite diverse ethnically. Similar to the previous releases of the franchise, xXx: Return of Xander cage is packed with action, gun shots and adrenalin pumping stunts. Every character - a hacker, sniper, uber cool musician, a deceitful villain - which could make sense and add some thrill in an action flick have been included. But unfortunately, inspite of all these the film doesn’t enthral the audience.

A lot of fault for the mediocrity of the film goes to the simple and a recycled storyline. In order to make it interesting, the makers have action, but that doesn’t make it entertaining enough. A lot of ideas - the suspicious authorities, the secret objective of government agencies, and a tightly knit, loving team - have been seen before. We have also seen Vin Diesel as a macho man in fast and furious and other serious roles. While he portrays similar strengths here, there seems to be a new dimension added to the character too, which sadly is bothering.  Many characters - Tony Jaa as the Asian comic, Ruby Rose as Sniper, Nina Dobrev as nerd - in the film are sadly stereotyped, except for the ones played by Padukone and Yen.

Desi export Deepika Padukone has quite an important role to play, and oh boy, she works her charm throughout. Her chemistry with Diesel is quite convincing and watching her perform those stunts will certainly impress you, as we wouldn’t ever see her doing in Bollywood films. She DOES NOT, yes read it again, DOES NOT carry an accent – thankfully which works in her favour. What she lacks in the film is a li’l more attitude of a bad girl, but nevertheless, she does her job quite well. But is she good as other ladies, who have tasted success in Hollywood? Well, we shall keep our comments reserved for this and let you take a chance to enjoy the moment with Deepika.

To sum it, we would suggest you watch this film either for our girl or for Vin Diesel. For the rest, give it a pass and you’d not miss a bit.