Vin Diesel marks his return as Xander Cage on the upcoming xXx sequel, despite being labeled as dead on the first sequel xXx: State of the Union. With beautiful set pieces and fast-paced, in-your-face action, it would be easy to get lost in its ice-thin, unoriginal plot.

The premise of the movie is as simple as its title, xXx: Return of Xander Cage. Bad guy (Donnie Yen) steals very important item (Pandora's Box) from the government (NSA) that could potentially be used for world domination (control military satellites). Government realizes threat and bring back good guy (Diesel), who is supposedly dead. Good guy builds team (consisting of a hacker and a sniper) to take on bad guy. Good guy faces bad guy. Good guy wins and saves the day.

Now while the story may as simple as a children's story book, the movie is filled to the brim with so many action sequences and stunts, which are mostly performed by the professional extreme sports practitioners, that it is easy to get lost in the action. According to IGN, there is almost never a dull moment in the D.J. Caruso-directed movie.  

Aside from the scenes, another point comes from its diverse cast, which covers a wide range of the spectrum. It successfully drew talent from many countries, even bringing in Michael Bisping of UFC fame and the Brazilian footballer Neymar for his Hollywood debut. Ice Cube, who played as Darius Stone on the second xXx film will be making a cameo on the film as himself, tying the three movies together.

As noted by Empire, Diesel is unashamed to pull off some nods from his other famous franchise, down to forming a team to deal with the threat. This bit is interesting, as the first movie found the character having a Rambo-like attitude.

This third installment seems to be setting up the title for a reinvigorated franchise, same as what he did with the Fast series. Diesel has recently revealed that he, along with some cast members, have been invited by Paramount Pictures for another sequel.

xXx: Return of Xander Cage premiers on January 20, 2017.