xXx Film Series Ranked, Worst To Best

xXx was pitched as a James Bond-style franchise for a new generation but it evolved in bizarre ways; here’s every entry ranked worst to best.

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Here’s every movie in Vin Diesel’s blockbuster xXx franchise ranked from worst to best. While Pitch Black was the film that put Vin Diesel on the radar of a worldwide audience, it was the success of 2001’s The Fast and the Furious that made him a true star. The first entry was a simple street racing riff on Point Break and the potential for follow-ups was obvious, but Diesel defied expectations by sitting out of first sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious. So much for family, even if ever-persistent memes concerning Diesel refuse to stop insisting he’d never turn his back on them.

Instead, Diesel opted to star in his own series, xXx, billed as James Bond meets extreme sports. While xXx was a commercial success, critical reaction was more mixed and, similar to Fast & Furious, the series evolved in strange ways with each new installment. Also similar to Fast & Furious, Diesel exited xXx: State Of The Union, this time because he wasn’t keen on the script. This led to a formula reshuffle, with each effort focusing on a brand new xXx agent played by a different actor. xXx: State Of The Union revealed how Diesel’s Xander Cage died in an off-screen mission, but this wasn’t depicted until the short film The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage, where the protagonist was killed in an explosion by xXx 2’s villains. Without Diesel around, Cage was played by Diesel’s stunt double. The sequel tanked critically and commercially this time, but thanks to Diesel’s growing success with the Fast & Furious series, he was brought back for 2017’s xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage, which became a solid hit. Needless to say, Cage’s death in the short film was duly ignored, as everyone involved realized the xXx franchise was nothing without him.

Vin Diesel made his latest Fast & Furious appearance in F9, cementing the legacy of Dom Toretto and his ever-expanding brood of street racers and secret agents, but that doesn’t mean the actor is done with Xander Cage just yet – xXx 4 is currently in development, although a nasty legal battle involving the franchise could keep the sequel off screens for some time to come. Possibly even years, if the Friday the 13th legal battle is any indication. In the meantime, here’s a ranking of the series thus far.

3. xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage (2017)

xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage sees Diesel copy-and-paste the proven Fast & Furious formula of bringing together a diverse cast of characters and actors, but the threequel lacks the charm of the madcap automobile franchise. There’s an off-putting smugness to Diesel’s Xander Cage this time around – who’s apparently the most desirable man alive – and the attempts at comedy consistently fall flat. xXx 3’s one saving grace is its impressive supporting cast – the likes of Donnie Yen, Nina Dobrev and Ruby Rose – even if some of them have precious little to do.

Samuel L. Jackson’s Gibbons returns for an extended cameo, Toni Collette (Hereditary) grabs a cheque as Cage’s dour CIA agent handler while still managing to be entertaining, but it’s Donnie Yen who truly saves xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage. Yen’s anti-hero has considerably more charisma and physical ability than Diesel, and lights up the screen whenever he appears. If the series must continue, a Yen spinoff sounds like the most attractive option. Whether Diesel, who’s notoriously protective of his movie franchises, would be willing to cede the xXx spotlight to anyone else remains to be seen.

2. xXx: State Of The Union (2005)

Producers behind the xXx series had to turn their frowns upside-down after Vin Diesel’s departure, with Ice Cube’s Darius Stone stepping up to the plate for xXx: State Of The Union. While Cube gave the lead role his all, not even his charisma proved enough to save the project from failure. The sequel is majorly let down by its reliance on cartoonish CGI action sequences and a weak script courtesy of X-Men: Dark Phoenix’s Simon Kinberg. Having said that, there’s some guilty pleasure to be had with xXx 2. The supporting cast ride to the rescue once again, with Willem Dafoe’s (The Lighthouse) growly villain far more fun than he should be, and adrenaline set-pieces becoming increasingly outlandish. xXx: State Of The Union remains a very forgotten and very skippable sequel, but Mr. Cube’s Darius Stone would make a cameo in third film, Return Of Xander Cage. That’s a bit surprising, considering how big a financial disaster State of the Union was.

1. xXx (2002)

xXx is very much a product of the early 2000s, boasting a soundtrack loaded full of nu-metal bangers, action sequences edited after 20 cans of Red Bull, and buckets of super-goofy comedy. Still, there’s something charmingly dumb about xXx, and it must be said that the catalog of set pieces feature more than a few genuinely impressive stunts and explosions. Vin Diesel is perfectly suited to his lead role, and while xXx barely elevates above the level of even the most mediocre Bond movie, Xander Cage’s first outing remains the most purely enjoyable of the entire trilogy. Tellingly though, it failed to overtake competition from 007 at the 2002 box office, resoundingly losing to Die Another Day, itself now regarded as one of Bond’s weakest outings ever. Will the mooted xXx 4 fare any better? Probably not.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/xxx-movies-ranked-vin-diesel-best-worst/