Even Vin Diesel's Most Over-The-Top XXX Stunts Were Somehow Grounded In Reality
It's hard to imagine the modern action movie landscape without Vin Diesel. Most impressively, Diesel has found success in franchises built from the ground up, including, obviously, "Fast and Furious" (and all of its title variations). And while his "Fast" films remain his most financially successful projects, Diesel produces a number of other original franchises. One of which is "xXx," another action-packed endeavor that debuted in 2002 a year after "Fast and Furious." Despite a more-than-decent box-office run, "xXx" never quite landed with the masses. That didn't stop Diesel from coming back to the franchise many years later with "xXx: Return of Xander Cage in 2017.
A film series known for its daring stunts, "xXx" helped solidify Diesel as a truly committed action star and producer that did whatever it took to capture the best, wildest action imaginable. I mean, his character literally evades a helicopter and its gunfire several times on a dirt bike at one point. However, the improbable story that features Xander Cage, an extreme sports professional who works for the U.S. government as a spy, is probably more ridiculous than the action that fills it. And there is some evidence to support that claim, too. Believe it or not, a lot of the crazy set pieces pulled off in the trilogy were actually based on stunts that happened in real life. In fact, it was a prerequisite for the filmmakers.
'Drawn from real events'
In an interview with BlackTree TV for "Return of Xander Cage," Diesel was asked about the thought process that goes into creating the high-octane action sequences that have characterized the "xXx" franchise. While he admits that, as a producer, they are there to break the rules (often gravity), the ideas are pulled from real-life stunts: "The irony is that every sequence – save for, you know, propelling a plane to a satellite – but all the action, extreme sports sequences, are drawn from real events."
Both "xXx" and "Return of Xander Cage" definitely push the boundaries of what an audience could buy into, but at least it's clear that Diesel and co. don't pull their ideas out of thin air. He elaborated:
"So before, long before we ever get to production, we're going through countless videos, looking at all kinds of stuff. And me, because I get to ultimately play the character, I get to imagine, 'What if I could do that?' And then I'm training with those guys! And then I'm spending weeks learning how to do that! Enough to be able to execute the scene with their help."
Maybe it's the dirt bike enthusiast buried somewhere deep inside of me, but it's hard to not celebrate the fact that a film like "xXx" exists. The vibes are truly hard to replicate, especially in the CGI-ridden action landscape we are in today. No one should go into this series thinking more than twice about what's on the screen. However, if you do, just know that even Vin Diesel could not have done without the real daredevils of the world.