THE leading man and director in this sequel to the 2002 action-adventure may have changed, but the reckless pursuit of high-octane, adrenaline-pumping thrills is unequivocally the same.
Masked assailants storm the National Security Agency's underground operations centre, killing everyone except agent Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L Jackson) and gizmo geek Toby Lee Shavers (Michael Roof).
Suspecting a radical covert faction with the US government, Gibbons springs decorated Special Ops soldier Darius Stone (Ice Cube) from prison, in the hope of rooting out the insurgents within the White House.
Their investigation suggests the first ever coup d'etat in American history, involving President Sanford (Peter Strauss) and his Secretary of Defence, George Deckert (Willem Dafoe).
Rounding up his old posse of thugs and hoodlums, including former flame Lola (Nona Gaye) and renegade operator Zeke (Xzibit), Darius leads the charge to Washington DC.
Meanwhile, ambitious up-and-coming FBI agent Kyle Steele (Scott Speedman) closes the net on Darius, determined to throw the escaped criminal back behind bars.
xXx 2: The Next Level is dumb with a capital duh.
The plot makes no sense, least of all the characters, who herald each overblown set piece by making some huge leap of illogic or suddenly remembering a vital piece of information.
Such as the existence of a presidential bullet train, stationed beneath Capitol Hill, in case of emergencies.
That'll be the setting for the outrageous high-speed finale then.
Ice Cube's hero spends his first minutes of freedom guzzling a hamburger and two portions of fries and milkshake. Not that he looks like he needs it.
Yet, this is the same action hero who supposedly somersaults, freefalls, dives and abseils in the blink of an eye. And without breaking sweat.
Jackson and Speedman enjoy the odd skirmish, while Dafoe sneers and snarls up a storm and Roof offers fleeting comic relief.
Despite the film's many shortcomings, for pure visceral thrills, eye-popping pyrotechnics and wanton destruction, director Lee Tamahori delivers.
Truly, the sequel is one breathless guffaw after the next, from the sight of Ice Cube flying through the air and grabbing onto a helicopter that appears out of nowhere, to the hysterical dialogue.
Admittedly, it's hard to know if the cast is in on the joke - we seem to laugh at the characters as much as we laugh with them.
But when it comes to popcorn entertainment, it seems churlish to quibble about the filmmakers' true intentions.
That presupposes forethought and some level of intelligence, neither of which have any place in the xXx universe.
See it at UCI, ABC
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