How xXx Parodied James Bond In Its Opening Scene

How xXx Parodied James Bond In Its Opening Scene

Vin Diesel’s xXx wanted to distinguish Xander Cage from more traditional movie spies like James Bond, so the movie spoofed 007 in its first scene.

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The Vin Diesel vehicle xXx offered audiences an edgier spin on spy movie heroes than the James Bond series, and it spoofed the super-spy in its first scene. xXx kicked off the franchise in 2002, and the original aimed to put a more up-to-date spin on the genre than Pierce Brosnan’s more traditional James Bond adventures offered at the time.

Followed by State of the Union in 2005 – which replaced Diesel with Ice Cube’s Darius Stone – and The Return of Xander Cage in 2017, xXx centered around Vin Diesel’s glowering hero Xander Cage, an extreme-sports practitioner who turned his passion for stunts into a career as an NSA agent. To distinguish Xander from his obvious inspiration James Bond, the secret agent was tattooed and casually dressed, far from the suited, clean-shaven 007.

In comparison with the self-consciously hip xXx, the Bond franchise was looking pretty corny and outdated in the early 2000s, thanks to the success of Austin Powers and the winking, self-referential humor of Brosnan’s tenure as Bond. The release of 2002’s campy misfire Die Another Day didn’t help that perception, so when xXx arrived in cinemas starring one of The Fast and The Furious’ breakout stars as a more modern secret agent, it was almost inevitable it would spoof Bond’s out-of-date stylings. However, xXx went one step further by killing off its 007 proxy in the opening scene.

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xXx first scene focuses on one of Xander’s fellow NSA agents, who is clad in a tuxedo and played by Karate Kid III villain Thomas Ian Griffith. xXx’s Bond-like character is soon chased into a Rammstein concert of all things and swiftly killed by the movie’s main villains as if to prove that a pre-Daniel Craig 007 wasn’t equipped to handle the challenges Xander would confront. Ironically, later Bond movies would see 007 indulge in parkour, krav maga, and all manner of xXx-style stunts, and often beat the latter series at its own (spy) game.

Of course, this opening served a narrative purpose in xXx in addition to being a broad, thematic refutation of Bond’s debonair style of espionage. This agent’s death is what prompts Samuel L Jackson’s Augustus Gibbons to recruit Diesel’s Cage in the first place, with the rest of the plot reiterating the point that the new millennium required a new breed of spy. That said, the opening was first and foremost a not-so-subtle parody intended to illustrate that a James Bond-style agent was ill-equipped for the modern era, and thus justify the existence of xXx’s Cage.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/xxx-movie-james-bond-parody-opening/