TwitterReview: Vin Diesel is back as Xander Cage in the third entry of the “XXX” franchise, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. Lots of action and fun. Grade: 3 stars

It has been fifteen years since we first were introduced to Vin Diesel as Xander Cage in 2002’s xXx, an extreme sports junkie that is recruited by Samuel L Jackson’s Augustus Gibbons for a secret US Government mission. Three years later we are introduced to Ice Cube’s Darius Stone in xXx: State of the Union where we learn in a throw-away line of dialogue that Xander Cage was killed.

“The rumor of my death has been greatly exaggerated” – Mark Twain

That often heard line from Mark Twain can greatly sum up the plot of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage as we are reminded time and time again that Xander Cage is alive and well. But enough of this as we all know that this franchise needs Vin Diesel to survive so let’s move on to the import stuff….the review of the actual movie. In honor of the great John Eisenberg (former writer for the Baltimore Sun and now writer for BaltimoreRavens.com) I’m going to review this movie in his Fact/Opinion style.

Fact: It has been 15 years since the first xXx movie was in theaters and we were introduces to a movie trying to be the extreme version of James Bond.

Opinion: xXx: The Return of Xander Cage delivers all the action and fun you could want. Not once does it take itself seriously or make you think that any of this could actually happen. This is what you want out of a popcorn flick.

Fact: The FBI is attacked in New York for a device that can bring satellites that they managed to get their hands on it after Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L Jackson) is attacked. These attacks prompt Director Marke (Toni Collette) of the FBI to locate the original triple-X to recruit him to help find the attackers. Once recruited, X recruits his own team of misfits – Nicks (Kris Wu), Tennyson Lynch (Rory McCann), and Ainsley (Hermione Corfield) – to help him gather information and locate the team that attached the FBI. This team – Xiang (Donnie Yen), Serena (Deepika Padukone), Talon (Tony Jaa), and Hawk (Michael Bisping) – turns out to be Ex-triple-x’s (would that make them X cubed?) and are trying to get the device from the FBI to keep it out of the hands of the US Government but also of anyone that could get their hands on it. Eventually the complete pack of X people need to team up and stop Director Marke and her military commandos lead by Paul Donovan (played by former NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez) as they turn the tables on the X pack and try to kill all of them.

Opinion: The X twist with the Ex-X’s being the “bad guys” and then part of the “good guys” was an interesting way to create a super X group. Writer F.Scott Frazier didn’t muddle what could have been a mess and just made the characters flow with the situation. There was really no “good guy” or “bad guy” but a group of people banding together for the greater good. Director D.J. Caruso kept the extreme we saw in 2002 and made it fit for a 2017 world that we live in.

Fact: Darius Stone is a bad-ass!

Opinion: Paramount Pictures let the cat out of the bag on the big cameo of the movie in their latest commercials. It’s a shame that they did this as seeing Ice Cube back as Darius Stone was a cool and rumored addition and when Stone comes onscreen the audience all cheered. Honestly this was the best part of the final act of the film and I wish they had used him earlier in the movie or for longer.

Fact: Rated PG-13 with a run time of 1 hour and 47 minutes, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage is a fun movie that everyone should see.

Opinion: Paramount is relaunching the xXx franchise in a way that will allow them to expand the X brand. I’m hoping that they don’t water the brand down but also that in the next installment we get Xander Cage and Darius Stone working side-by-side fighting to save the day.