XXX

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A threat to the Bond franchise? Not a threat so much as a salute. I don't want James Bond to turn crude and muscular on me; I like the suave style. But I like Xander, too, especially since he seems to have studied Bond so very carefully.

Wall Street Journal Nancy deWolf Smith

To top it all off, no matter where you sit in the theater, no matter how far you arch back in your seat, there's no escaping the sensation that all the action on the screen is taking place about three feet from your face. I loved it.

Chicago Reader Ted Shen

Director Rob Cohen supplies plenty of gore, attitude, loud music, and extreme-sports action -- in particular, a thrilling aerial drop that's followed by a crushing avalanche.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

In terms of adrenaline, XXX is one of the most satisfying entries this summer.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

It's too ridiculous, too flatly acted, too action-packed, too, well, fun.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Diesel clearly has fun playing a character so bullish that his skin seems to be made of leather, and he's self-conscious enough to pull it off even after the film surrenders to formula.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Brash, chaotic and jostlingly entertaining.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

In Hollywood, and perhaps beyond, there's nothing more predictable than a rebel with a cause. XXX pretends otherwise, but isn't really fooling anyone -- ultimately, this is a movie as generic as its title.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

As junky as the movie is, you've gotta love its immersion in the preposterous and its naive hope that street credibility and attitude, along with a need for speed, are all that's really necessary in this big, bad world.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

As Diesel says, ''I like something fast enough to do something stupid in.'' Mission accomplished.

New Times (L.A.) Luke Y. Thompson

Doesn't hit a home run on every action sequence -- an early bit set in Colombia is too long and too disjointed -- but there are one or two bits in the movie's latter third that are guaranteed to hook action fans.

Variety Robert Koehler

A brawny commercial attraction strategically tapping into the auds for extreme sports, spy pix, thrill rides, popcorn actioners and anyone looking to see Diesel kick butt, blow stuff up and/or take his shirt off.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Momentum, motivation and story are all swallowed by simple sensation, and the film finally exhausts itself for lack of stylistic imagination.

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

The film gives good action (amid more tired spy business) but comes riddled with contradictions.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Action fans will watch their adrenaline levels redline, and those not at ease with this climax-after-climax style will white knuckle their way through to the end.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Suit #3: But what will we call the sequel? Suit #1: "XXXX"? Suit #2: Brilliant!

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Less a movie than a collection of pretty cool action set-pieces, linked together with some seriously awful acting and dialogue that even Dr. Evil couldn't deliver with a straight face.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's hard to hate a movie, even one this droolingly crass, that knows how to laugh at itself.

Miami Herald Charles Savage

XXX may be a celebration of jock culture stupidity, but it's also guaranteed not to produce any ZZZ's.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Can I admit XXX is as deep as a Petri dish and as well-characterized as a telephone book but still say it was a guilty pleasure? Because I have to confess, when special agent Xander Cage tossed two detonators onto a mountainside and outran the ensuing avalanche on a snowboard, I was digging the action.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Built of action-sport stunts, has adrenaline to spare. But, c'mon. Where is its sense of fun?

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Pumped-up, dumbed-down Bond, with tattoos instead of brains.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

For Vin Diesel, starring in XXX is a wonderfully smart career move. Too bad neither "wonderful" nor "smart" are applicable adjectives to describe this film.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The irony is that for all its "not your father's spy movie" posing, it's exactly like the later James Bond pictures: predictable, lightweight and 100 percent disposable

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Honestly, at this point in time there's no legitimate reason to confuse “bad ass” filmmaking with just plain bad. Nice GTO, though.

Film Threat Eric Campos

There's a lot of goofy spy game crap going on, peppered with lesser quality action sequences. Ugh. I'm just so depressed and disappointed right now. I need a shoulder to cry on.

USA Today Mike Clark

All you get here for paid admission is a long and terrific avalanche scene -- state of the art, no question. Then it's over and ready to melt away, much like memories of this movie.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The movie's own style is strictly an anti-style, all pre-packaged post-punk.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Diesel himself has the personality of a golem and a knack for dialogue delivery that suggests recent oral surgery.

The New Yorker David Denby

In itself, XXX is not worth getting bothered about -- a half-dozen big pictures as bad as this one come out every year. At the very worst, it will kick off a pointless new movie franchise. [19 & 26 August 2002, p.174]

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Essentially a dumb guy's day in Heaven. The movie's retrofitted with stunts, fights, explosions, drugs, babes and cars -- not necessarily in that order.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The infuriating thing about XXX isn't that it delivers thrills and spills to moviegoers who don't know any better, but that its Hollywood hype reinforces the notion that brain-dead entertainment is what movies are all about.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Even in the summertime, the most restless young audience deserves the dignity of an action hero motivated by something more than franchise possibilities. Movies like XXX -- a big 000 -- don't deserve our $$$.