XXX: State of the Union

XXX: The Next Level
File:XXX State of the Union poster.JPG Promotional poster for XXX: State of the Union
Directed by	Lee Tamahori
Written by	Simon Kinberg Rich Wilkes
Starring	Ice Cube Willem Dafoe Scott Speedman Peter Strauss Samuel L. Jackson
Music by	Marco Beltrami
Distributed by	Revolution Studios
Release dates	29 April, 2005
Running time	101 min.
Language	English/Hungarian

XXX: State Of The Union, released as XXX: The Next Level outside of the United States and Canada, is a 2005 action/adventure film, directed by Lee Tamahori. It is a sequel to the 2002 film XXX (pronounced "triple x").

Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen, the lead actor and director of the original had signed onto this film before XXX had opened, but both dropped out. Cohen remained an executive producer.

Two different scripts were made for this film, and the one written by Simon Kinberg was selected. The other script featured a radically different plot, possibly serving as the basis for another sequel. However, as State of the Union underperformed at the box office, and was trashed by critics (the first installment's reception was mixed), it is uncertain whether any new installments will ever be made.

Plot summary

After the original XXX superspy Xander Cage (played by Vin Diesel) is reportedly killed in Bora Bora (which can be seen in the Director's Cut release), imprisoned former U.S. Navy SEAL Darius Stone (played by Ice Cube) is selected by Agent Augustus Gibbons (played by Samuel L. Jackson) to be the next XXX. Gibbons and his new agent travel to Washington D.C., where they track a splinter faction of the US military that attempts to overthrow the US government and assassinate the President, led by Secretary of Defense and former 4-star general George Deckert, Stone's former commanding officer (played by Willem Dafoe) whom he once led a mutiny against.

Taglines

• Prepare for the next level
• The greatest threat to our nation comes from within.

Notes

During the prison escape scene, there is morse code mixed in with the music. The code is "XXX 1" or "-..- -..- -..- .----" This is interesting because this is actually the second film in the series.

Main cast

• Ice Cube — Darius Stone:xXx
• Willem Dafoe — George Deckert
• Samuel L. Jackson — Agent Augustus Gibbons
• Scott Speedman — Agent Christopher Steele
• Xzibit — Zeke
• Nona Gaye — Lola Jackson
• Sunny Mabrey — Charlie
• Peter Strauss — President Sanford

Soundtrack

Compared to the soundtrack of XXX', the XXX² soundtrack has less of a heavy metal/modern rock cocktail tinge and more of a hip hop/extreme rap with a rock tinge. The soundtrack is on Jive Records & Zomba Records, part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Track listing

1. "Get XXX'd " - J-Kwon featuring Petey Pablo and Ebony Eyez
2. "Anybody Seen The PoPo's!?!" - Ice Cube
3. "Fight The Power" - Korn featuring Xzibit
4. "Messiah" - Dead Celebrity Status featuring Chino XL
5. "Oh No" - Big Boi featuring Bubba Sparxxx and Killer Mike
6. "The Payback" - P.O.D [*not in the film]
7. "Dirty Little Thing" - Velvet Revolver
8. "Wyle Out" - Bone Crusher
9. "Here We Go" - Dirtbag
10. "Dis Dat Block" - YoungBloodZ
11. "Lookin' For U" - Chingy featuring G.I.B
12. "The March" - Hush
13. "MKLVFKWR" - Moby and Public Enemy
14. "Just Like Wylin'" - Bone Crusher and Three Days Grace
15. "Did It Again" - Labba
16. "The Good Song" - Tonéx

• The String quartet that appear playing in the party is Bond playing their song "Victory"

External links

• Official site
• XXX: State of the Union at IMDb