Like the "XXX" original, "XXX: State of the Union" is ultra loud and often looks like a PlayStation game. But when the fast and furious bludgeoning and blow-ups wane, the screen may as well be tuned to channel zero. This time agent XXX is played by Ice Cube, and this movie wants desperately to roll ghetto style. But Cube is so far removed from his mad rapper days with NWA that his barbs and rhymes come off as more shtick than street. And the rest of the cast, including Samuel L. Jackson and Willem Dafoe, look like they're sleepwalking. Read the full review

FILM FACTS ...

Columbia Pictures

'XXX: State of the Union'

Director: Lee Tamahori
Starring: Ice Cube, Willem Dafoe, Samuel L. Jackson, Xzibit
Run time: 101 minutes
Release date: April 29, 2005
Rating: R for sequences of intense action violence and some language.
See showtimes

On the web
Official movie site
View the trailer
   Trailers require Quicktime

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