XXX is back, only this time, he's not a bald white extreme sports star turned secret agent. He's now a black ex-convict with only slightly more hair in the form of Ice Cube. But that doesn't stop NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons (Samuel Jackson) from recruiting him to stop the country's Secretary of Defense (Willem Dafoe) from plotting a coup against the United States government.<br /><br />The premise is a non issue here and there's actually very little resembling a plot. Sure, there some whispers about protecting the president but there's nothing too complex here. The script was written by Simon Kinberg and he usually focuses on the action sequences and not the story. For example, he also wrote the screenplay for Mr. and Mrs. Smith and that film was heavy on action, low on story. The action sequences are pretty nice and entertaining to watch. The action is the real reason to watch the movie since everything else is handled poorly. Judging from the user comments, a lot of people took the film too seriously when really this sequel is a harmless movie. Obviously the story and action scenes are highly unrealistic but so what? This movie is clearly stupid and mindless yet still mildly entertaining.<br /><br />The acting is alright, at least the important characters can act. Ice Cube actually gives a pretty good performance as XXX. He does a better job than Vin Diesel and he shows a lot of charisma in the role as well. Samuel L. Jackson returns as Gibbons and he also gives a good performance. Willem Dafoe gives a decent performance though he isn't given very much screen time. The rest of the supporting actors aren't as good. Xzibit, Nona Gaye and Sunny Mabrey all give awful performances which isn't too surprising but they don't hurt the film.<br /><br />I actually like Lee Tamahori as a director. He makes his films simple yet still entertaining. Lee did a good job with this film and the action scenes look terrific. However, this is probably his weakest film yet. Despite the action scenes, the film does get a little dull. I wasn't surprised by this and there was really nothing they could have done since the film was 95 minutes long. Before I saw this sequel, I was expecting the worst. To my surprise, the movie turned out to be okay. Sure the dialog is pretty lame and character development is non existent but the movie proved to be harmless and enjoyable. In the end, this sequel is worth a rental as long as your brain is turned off. Rating 5/10