After Priyanka Chopra made her stunning debut on American soil with ABC’s crime drama thriller series Quantico, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone too set sail westward for her own Hollywood debut in xXx: Return of Xander Cage. Starring alongside Vin Diesel, Padukone worked her way up to bagging the role of Serena Unger in the third movie of the xXx franchise. But, the question is, was this her big Hollywood breakthrough? I’m guessing no. Why, you might ask? Because the movie is an effin’ bore!
Even with all the bangs and the action (which is actually pretty decent), you might find yourself struggling to stay awake. Now, why would you pay good money to go sleep in a theatre when you can very well do that in the comfort of your home, for free, all wrapped up in a blanket, away from the freezing cold!
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In spite of Vin Diesel’s charisma and the traction of the franchise, xXx: Return of Xander Cage is not appealing at all. The script was kept as lazy as possible because, who cares about the plot in an action flick, right? The driving object in the film is a catastrophic weapon, however, I do find it hilarious that the scriptwriters didn’t feel up to briefing us about the workings of this “Pandora’s Box”. There was a complete absence of science from the film which, on the plus side, makes it an extremely light film which lacks any depth whatsoever.
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As steamy as Vin Diesel and Deepika Padukone looked in the trailer, they literally have no on-screen chemistry. The build-up of their interest in one another is cold and seems forced because, “the badass guy always gets the girl”.
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Another domain where the film could have excelled was humour but, it chose not to. The humour isn’t exactly absent but, it will barely break a smile on your face. Ruby Rose, who plays Adele (nope, not that one), does manage to fix it up a bit but, not enough. Speaking of Rose, she is an asset to the cast along with Vin Diesel and Nina Dobrev. Apart from the three actors, nobody delivered quality performance on camera, even Deepika. We have seen Padukone perform much better in several Bollywood films but one could visibly notice her slipping in xXx: Return of Xander Cage. While we’re on the subject of disappointments among the cast, Samuel L. Jackson barely has a role in the entire film. Even Neymar Jr.’s cameo was brief and unimpressive.
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On the other hand, if you are a fan of action, you shouldn’t miss the film. The fight scenes are crazy brilliant especially towards the beginning. Padukone too is seen kicking ass and she’s fairly good. The film is also a decent pick for Deepika fans who has quite a sizeable role. She makes a ninja style entrance within the first few minutes of the film which is worthy of praise. To conclude, if you’re not a big fan of action or Deepika Padukone, save your money for another film.
