XXX (2002 film)

xXx (pronounced "Triple X") is a 2002 American action film directed by Rob Cohen. It stars Vin Diesel as Xander Cage, a thrill seeking extreme sports enthusiast, stuntman and rebellious athlete-turned-reluctant spy for the National Security Agency who is sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate a group of potential Russian terrorists in Central Europe. xXx also stars Asia Argento, Samuel L. Jackson, and Marton Csokas. Cohen previously directed The Fast and the Furious, in which Diesel also starred.

The film received mixed reviews but was a financial success for the studios, grossing US$277,448,382 worldwide. It was followed by a 2005 sequel entitled xXx: State of the Union.

Plot

An NSA mission to collect intel on Anarchy 99, a mercenary group made up of former Russian soldiers goes awry when the agent's identity is discovered by the group. NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons, overseeing the operation to get any intel on the group's plans for the biochemical weapon named "Silent Night" that has been missing since the fall of the Soviet Union, believes the only way to get close is to recruit an agent that would not have any ties to the United States government. He selects Xander Cage, also known as X, an extreme sports professional and host of his own television show who is outspoken against the government and was recently captured by the FBI for stealing and destroying a prominent California senator's car as an act of protest. Gibbons puts Cage through two tests - stopping a staged diner robbery, and escaping from a drug cartel's plantation in Colombia - and offers Cage the mission. Cage reluctantly agrees when Gibbons offers to wipe his criminal record away.