xXx UMD-Video For PSP Review

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Title: xXx: UMD-Video For PSP

Region: One

Genre: Spy Action

Stars: Vin Diesel, Asia Argento, Marton Csokas, and Samuel L. Jackson

Writer: Rich Wilkes

Director: Rob Cohen

Feature length: 124 minutes

Extras: Trailer

Languages: English, French, and German Language Stereo Sound

Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Arabic, Polish, and Turkish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 28

Sound: Stereo Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2002/UMD Release: 2005

Theatrical Distributor: Revolution Studios

Home Video Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Vin Diesel stars as Xander Cage alias “xXx,” a notorious underground thrill-seeker who in addition to confounding politicians by stealing their sports cars as a statement against censorship, had been considered an untouchable folk hero and by default a man under the close scrutiny of the NSA, who recruit Xander by draft to head into Prague and uncover a terrorist threat from anarchists. Asia Argento (Italian Horror Guru Dario Argento’s Daughter) is the sexy love interest. The character was conceived as an antihero, but “xXx” is no “Snake Plissken” in terms of what I think of as an antihero. However he definitely commands a presence on screen with no small thanks to both Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen who obviously have developed a professional and personal report and respect for each other. “xXx” is actually not that different from the standard “James Bond” paradigm complete with gadgets, stunts, action, women, and a mad villain with a doomsday style weapon. What “xXx” does is it updates the “spy” genre with an agent for a new and perhaps younger generation and has a darker, but no less glitzier look. Is “xXx” as good as “James Bond?” No, but many would say “James Bond” is not as good as “James Bond” once was, but lets face it, as long as the story stays consistent within the rules it sets up, viewers should get what they expect and this is as by the numbers an action spy flick as they come, yet filtered through an inverted lens with a pseudo darker tone.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has modified the aspect ratio presentation from the theatrical (2.40:1) presentation to an anamorphic (1.78:1) image. I have complained already about three times with Sony’s “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” and Disney’s “Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl” and “National Treasure” UMD-Videos. I don’t think changing the aspect ratio to make it friendlier for PSP users is necessary since the 16 by 9 screen suits anamorphic widescreen just fine and users could magnify or choose to fill the screen with the image if they wish. The image quality for this UMD release is good, but sometimes some of the fast moving scenes seemed slightly distorted to me. The English Stereo Soundtrack is very well mixed with a nice aggressive quality. French, and German Language Stereo Soundtracks and English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Arabic, Polish, and Turkish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the UMD as options too.

A trailer for “Hellboy” is included on the disc and the interactive menus are all well rendered and easy to navigate. “xXx” is available on UMD-Video now for PSP at retailers on and offline courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

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