xXx: State of the Union (PG-13)
Mike:
Scott:
Scott: Today we are reviewing xXx: State of the Union
, starring Ice Cube as Darius Stone, a former special forces military man fallen from grace with one last chance at redemption... or something like that.
So what did you think Mike? First impressions?
Mike: I thought it was fun. A good action movie.
Scott: Yes, it was not a 'classic' movie, but an instant classic, good action, like the Ahnold movies of the 80's.
Mike: Not classic, but entertaining.
Scott: I liked the action. I was a bit concerned about the movie from the previews I thought the action might look a bit too CGI, but it turned out ok.
Mike: There was a lot of stuff that was unrealistic, but that's why you go to the movies
A few of the action scenes were a bit hard to follow, because of the camera movement and editing.
Scott: I agree. Some of the fights were so dizzying that I lost track of who was who.
Mike: One thing I noticed. They sure "blowed stuff up real good!"
Scott: The explosions were good, not too over the top, which is a nice change from you normal action movie fare.
What did you think of 'Cube?
Mike: I liked him as an action hero
Scott: He has a tough guy mystique about him.
Mike: We already knew he could do comedy, so it was good to see him branch out.
Scott: True.
Mike: I think he's one of those actors that you can't help but like.
I also loved having Samuel L. Jackson and Willem Dafoe in the movie.
Scott: I didn't like Willem's character, George Deckert, that much.
Mike: There should have been more of Willem to help make him seem more evil.
Scott: He played the bad guy in this movie, I thought the role could have been played by half a dozen british actors without any dramatic loss.
His character was your normal action bad guy. I liked Sam too. 
Sam and Scott in NYC.
Mike: We needed much more Samuel!
Scott: Yes, he wasn't in very often. Really a secondary character in this movie, much like the first xXx.
Mike: They need to make him the next xXx.
Scott: I think he is getting to old to be the xXx, maybe the zZz.
Mike: Oh Scott made a funny. On a side note, you had to love the blonde, Charlie, played by Sunny Mabrey.
Scott: Oh yes you do.
She hasn't appeared in a lot of movies, but I think that will change with this role.
Mike: She looks familiar, but I can't place her? Must be from TV, because I didn't see any of the movies she's appeared in.
Scott: She was in The New Guy, and recently on House, M.D. on Fox.
Scott: Other than that it would have been a stretch to see her anywhere else, her other roles were small or in forgettable movies. The New Guy was a forgettable movie from a few years ago, she was the hottie in that.
Mike: She looks kinda like Kate Bosworth.
Scott: I liked the fact that they kicked her ass, normally, they don't do that to the hot girls
Mike: True. Speaking of hot. Once they showed the new 2006 Ford Cobra, I spent the rest of the time waiting to see that bad boy in action.
Scott: That car was sweet.
Mike: It's bad when you get that excited by a car, but they are an action movie staple.
Scott: A pretty machine, and fast too!
Mike: The worst part is it made me race my S2000 all the way home.
Scott: No problem with that for me and my compact.
Mike: I have a good imagination, you know. Peter Strauss played President Sanford in the movie. He goes back to Rich man Poor Man on tv.
Scott: I have to say he was pretty bad in this.
Mike: He did look pretty presidential.
Scott: I don't think so. He made Dubya look smooth.
Mike: I said looked, not acted.
Scott: True, he did look the part.
Mike: I guess the other main character was Agent Kyle Steele, played by Scott Speedman. He didn't do much for me. But I like him, because he was in Underworld, a flick I loved.
Mike: He was the chosen one that Kate Beckinsdale fell for.
Scott: I didn't even recognize him as starring in Underworld. He reminded me of Matthew McConaughey.
Mike: He's kinda vanilla. Did you miss Vin Diesel?
Scott: Not really, Ice Cube has a bigger vocabulary... by about 2 words.
Mike: I didn't miss Vin either, I didn't miss him in 2 Fast and 2 Furious either!
Scott: What did you think of the plot?
Mike: Plot?
Scott: Yeah, I think there was one. I thought it was a bit farfetched.
Mike: This had a lot of the hard to believe elements in it.
Scott: Exactly, but it flowed well from scene to scene. No slow spots.
Mike: But if you just want to tag along for the ride, it was fine.
Scott: From a techie perspective there wasn't a bunch to get hung up on. My only question was where did the NSA nerd get all of the equipment necessary to hack the DoD.
Mike: Actually kinda nice that it wasn't arab terrorists for a change.
Scott: Yes, but bringing in the gangsters for help was too cliche.
Mike: They did add some humor, though. One bad thing is every time I saw Xzibit, I wanted him to "pimp my ride".
Scott: I have never seen him before. I didn't know who he was. I guess I am not hip. I could have used a bit more information on why Deckert wanted to take over the government.
Mike: I think Deckert thought Sanford was a little too Clinton.
Scott: Oh, sure, then he should die.
Mike: And he wanted to get a little more military in the world.
Scott: So I rate it 3/5 for action, and a cable watcher, and you?
Mike: I rate it a 4/5 action and a DVD renter.
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