xXx: Return of Xander Cage (released as
xXx: Reactivated in some countries) is a 2017 American
action film directed by
D. J. Caruso and written by F. Scott Frazier. It stars
Vin Diesel,
Donnie Yen,
Deepika Padukone,
Kris Wu,
Ruby Rose,
Tony Jaa,
Nina Dobrev,
Toni Collette and
Samuel L. Jackson. It is the third installment in the
xXx franchise and a sequel to both
xXx (2002) and
xXx: State of the Union (2005). Unlike the previous films, which were distributed by
Columbia Pictures, the film was released by
Paramount Pictures on January 20, 2017, in 2D,
RealD 3D and
IMAX 3D.
NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons (
Samuel L. Jackson) attempts to recruit footballer
Neymar Jr. for the xXx program when a satellite crashes in
Brazil, apparently killing them both. Shortly afterwards, a team of four skilled individuals led by Xiang (
Donnie Yen) infiltrates the highly guarded
CIAheadquarters in order to retrieve "
Pandora's Box", a device which is capable of controlling satellites to crash at specific locations as warheads. CIA Agent Jane Marke (
Toni Collette) tracks down former xXx operative Xander Cage (
Vin Diesel),
who faked his death and has been living in self-imposed exile in the
Dominican Republic, and convinces him to return to active service to retrieve the device.
After enlisting an old friend, Ainsley (
Hermione Corfield), for help, Cage tracks down the attackers to the
Philippines. A unit of
Special Forces operatives led by Paul Donovan (
Tony Gonzalez) is assigned to help Xander, but he rejects them in favour of his own team, composed of sharpshooter Adele Wolff (
Ruby Rose), DJ Harvard "Nicks" Zhou (
Kris Wu), and getaway driver Tennyson "The Torch" (
Rory McCann). They are also aided by
introverted weapons specialist Becky Clearidge (
Nina Dobrev). The team locates Xiang and his teammates Serena (
Deepika Padukone), Talon (
Tony Jaa) and Hawk (
Michael Bisping), and Cage meets Xiang in an underground nightclub on a remote island, where Xiang reveals that his team are all part of the xXx program, recruited by Gibbons. He claims to have stolen Pandora's Box to prevent its misuse, although Serena believes they should destroy it.
Shortly after, Russian soldiers raid the island. The group manages to fend off the attackers, while Xiang manages to escape with Pandora's Box. Xander intercepts Xiang and chases him to a nearby beach. Serena betrays him, destroys the Box and joins Xander's team, while Xiang escapes and regroups with Talon & Hawk. After another satellite crash in
Russia, Marke determines that the device that Serena destroyed was only a prototype, and that both teams have been wasting time, while Cage determines that CIA Director Anderson (
Al Sapienza) is involved in the conspiracy and that the actual Pandora's Box is in his hands.
Cage's and Xiang's teams race to reach Anderson first in
Detroit, tracking the unique signal of Pandora's Box, with Xander and Xiang fighting and later protecting each other from Anderson's men. Xander confronts Anderson, who admits to causing the satellite crash that killed Gibbons. Anderson is then shot dead by Wolff. The CIA arrests Xiang in an attempt to frame him for the attack in Russia, and secures the box. En route back to headquarters, Marke announces that the xXx Program has been shut down and shoots Xander in order to keep it for herself. She then sends a group of assassins to eliminate the others, who are awaiting extraction at a local NSA warehouse. They join forces to fend off their attackers and receive assistance from another former xXx operative, Darius Stone (
Ice Cube).
Xander survives due to a bulletproof vest Becky had given him earlier and joins forces with Xiang to fight Donovan and his men, while Marke uses the box to send a satellite plummeting towards the warehouse where the teams are fighting. Xander ejects Donovan from the plane, while Xiang sends Marke falling to her death and then parachutes out with the box in hand. Despite Becky's attempts to halt the signal, they cannot stop the satellite from crashing. In a last attempt to protect them, Xander crashes the plane
into the approaching satellite before it reaches the warehouse and jumps out, using the cargo load to safely reach the ground. Xiang gives Cage the device, and Xander decides to destroy it. The team attends Gibbons' funeral, where Xander is approached by Gibbons himself, who faked his death and is now rebuilding the xXx Program on his own, starting with Neymar as the newest recruit. Gibbons compliments Xander on a job well done and Xander decides to continue in service, ready for a new mission to watch the watchers and preserve liberty.
