Director D.J. Caruso
Staring Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone
Rated M
Score 2/6

Xander Cage is left for dead after an incident, though he secretly returns to action for a new, tough assignment with his handler Augustus Gibbons.

I was planning to get this one up a little earlier but a few things got in the way. After waiting awhile to see this one, I can honestly say that I really do not feel that guilty for putting off watching this one for as long as I did. If Lee Tamahori’s 2005 sequel to XXX State of the Union dug the grave for the franchise the return of Xander Cage certainly piled on the dirt.
At best The Return of Xander Cage is another ‘Fuck physics’ movie that Vin Diesel seems to be known for. The Return of Xander Cage really didn’t bother to develop anything that resembled a memorable plot though yes there was the prerequisite beating with the stick of fan pandering, that so many of these sequels offer up. Now it was good to see a couple of Australians cast in this one, though I was a little surprised to see Toni Collette cast in this but not in a good way. She is capable of so much more. Nina Dobrev’s Becky Clearidge did prove to be an interesting change from Michael Roof’s character Agent Toby Lee Shavers. Though Dobrev’s character still managed to be annoying.