xXx: Return of Xander Cage is the person we all are in front of the mirror. When there’s no one else around, we stare at our flesh and we make goofy faces, smile and laugh like we’re with friends, pop zits, pluck eyebrows, do our makeup and give it our best Bowie. All pretense is dropped and we’re left with only what is staring back at us. It isn’t always what we want to see and it isn’t always what the world wants to see but gosh darn it if it isn’t beautiful anyway.
There is a segment of the world that might scoff at the wanton abandon for fun at play in Vin Diesel’s spy franchise. “I can’t take it seriously” or “It’s dumb”, some may say. Just like a bully in high school or a drunk asshole at a bar, those people are to be pitied, not hated. Dismissal based on face value (don’t judge a cover by its book, or something like that) is the death of all art and robs people of the experience of getting to know what another person, or art form is like. If I sound defensive it’s because I know the ludicrous action film I saw today has a big, pulpy heart that likes to make fearless faces in the mirror and, as evidenced by today’s presidential inauguration, a lot of the world is afraid of that sort of fun.
Now, let me quickly say that I know this is all ridiculous semiotics for a film where dirt biking through a 30-foot wave is treated as plausible. But that’s part of the point. The amount of fun, charm, wit and innocence present in xXx 3 rises its viciously anti-physics actions to a realm of entertainment and pleasure that is desperately needed in this world. The United States of America today witnessed an occurrence that the majority of us didn’t ask for and that we all deservedly have a necessity to be afraid of as humans with certain inalienable rights. That isn’t politics, that’s fact. Art as escapism, while being a practice in which I partake, is partially a misnomer because we will all find a way to relate our experiences to the events in our lives and society. The art displayed in xXx doesn’t have an air of self-importance as other action masterpieces like Terminator 2 but that quality makes it fully capable of handling the absurd nature of our present, real crises. Like Xander Cage, Americans and the world “live for this shit” and we will find a way out of it.
Art and film work in funny ways. Just because we have amazing films like Silence, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight that carry the torch of the human experience with solemnity doesn’t mean there isn’t room for Fast Five and xXx at the table also. Diversity in art is just as important as diversity elsewhere.
I wouldn’t be making this argument if I didn’t think xXx: Return of Xander Cage wasn’t actually a gloriously fun and poignant film about rebuking the system and finding a family you can count on. D.J. Caruso’s film is shot with the glee and fervor of a person discovering love for the first time. Everything from Diesel’s goofy gravel voice, Donnie Yen’s uber coolness, Tony Jaa’s weird rhythm to Nina Dobrev’s innocently violent awakening brings a cinematic joy that many rote studio blockbusters are lacking. Not all big, dumb action movies are Great, big, dumb action movies and the heart displayed here is the difference-maker.
Back to the semiotics — I don’t think, however, I’m making a mountain out of a molehill remarking that this sort of joyous lunacy was accidentally released on a day with such divisible world views. I firmly believe that if we sat down every American voter in a theater for xXx: Return of Xander Cage, we might not get a different human at our helm but we would definitely look at each other’s faces and see ourselves and smile and we would be able to work this all out.
Movies can change the world. I’m approaching life after January 20, 2017 with a new confidence I didn’t think I would have had when I woke up on this day. xXx provided that for me and for that, I thank the film and everyone involved. Go see it, go see anything, take a risk, believe in yourself and look in the mirror and create the weirdest face you’ve ever imagined. I guarantee it’s beautiful.
