XXX: Return Of Xander Cage is no Fast & Furious but has enough entertaining and thrilling moments that make for a nice watch on the BIG screen. And yes, Deepika Padukone has an important and a substantial role in the film (her name appears third in the opening credits in a film that has close to 11-12 characters). She looks super awesome gunning down the baddies, especially towards the climax (her sequence with Ruby Rose is quite awesome). It’s amazing to know that crores and crores of people around the world will now google who is Deepika Padukone and learn more about her! Many mainstream actors of Bollywood have done Hollywood films and they were hardly there in those flicks. But Deepika in XXX: Return Of Xander Cage is an exception – it’s the lengthiest role by a Bollywood mainstream actor/actress in a Hollywood film! As for the film, it has some loose ends and predictable and filmy at a lot of places. Also, it’s becoming like Furious series but that series is way ahead in a lot of respects. But XXX: Return Of Xander Cage manages to entertain, especially thanks to a great second half and action-packed climax. Vin Diesel as always is cool while Ruby Rose is kickass. Donnie Yen, Toni Collette and Nina Dobrev also leave a mark. All in all, a fine action extravaganza!
P.S.: All those who grouse that Bollywood copies stuff from foreign films will be surprised to know that a bike scene in this film is somewhat similar to a sequence in Dhoom 3!
My rating – *** ½ out of 5!
