Matthew Loriso
Staff Writer

After the success of the original “XXX,” it seemed natural to release a sequel. Fortunately, Vin Diesel does not play the title character in “XXX: State of the Union.” Unfortunately, Ice Cube does.

Ice Cube is certainly not the worst choice for an action star. He certainly looks the part and is talented enough to spew out one-liners. The problem with Ice Cube arises from the scenes when his character was required to move the story along through dialogue. He just does not work as a serious actor.

After being attacked in a secret lab by unknown assailants, Agent Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) decides to recruit old acquaintance Darius Stone (Ice Cube) to, basically, blow things up.

The movie’s reasoning for choosing Stone was that he had more attitude than the previous XXX, which apparently translates to: He is an unlikable jerk who also happens to be a convict. Call me crazy, but I don’t think someone who breaks out of jail is a justifiable hero.

Moral dilemmas and questionable acting aside, “State of the Union” is not all bad. After all, people watch action movies to see well-choreographed fight scenes and big explosions, two things that “State of the Union” has plenty of.

The action scenes are diverse, as well. The film starts off with a few gunfights and fistfights, but the action really picks up halfway through the movie. A few intense scenes involved tanks. Watching Ice Cube narrowly avoid the tanks’ fire is as exciting as it sounds.

The movie’s finale was also an exciting way to end the film: with a train/car/helicopter chase/fight scene. About the only type of fighting not represented in the movie was arm-wrestling (but hey, maybe we will get lucky and Sylvester Stallone will be the next XXX).

The story was, surprisingly, above average for an action flick. The premise of political deceit was, admittedly, more exciting than its actual execution, but at least it showed that they were trying. When it comes to the story between an action film’s mandatory explosions, it is always nice to see an effort being made.

“State of the Union” may not be the best action movie around, but it is not the most disappointing one either. If you need your fix for explosions, and don’t feel like going to jail for creating your own, then “State of the Union” will be enjoyable. As long as you don’t anticipate the film being anything more than the popcorn flick that it is, “State of the Union” will probably entertain.

Matthew Loriso can be reached at mloriso@ulv.edu.