XXX: State of the Union

Viewed on its own trashy terms, it succeeds brilliantly.

And while I'm not about to claim any facet of this feature has more brain cells than a bimbo looking for her next blonde joke, it's never obnoxious in its dimwittedness until that noxiously calamitous final.

Aims low and hits the bull's-eye with enough firepower to sink the Bismarck.

Explosions abound, along with expository dialogue and a ham-tastic triad of performances from Sam Jackson, Willem Dafoe, and Peter Strauss.

This is that rare B movie that's rooted in gut-level stirrings of power and retaliation.

As far as plots go, it doesn't get much flimsier than this.

This is the middle one of a middling trio of entries in the franchise, with regular star Vin Diesel replaced by a particularly burly and surly Ice Cube. End result: no-one wins.

Give Vin Diesel, the star of the original XXX, credit for bailing out and opting to do The Pacifier instead. Sadly enough, he made the right choice.

In light of the cinematic abomination that is "XXX: State Of The Union," Vin Diesel made the right choice by refusing to do another "xXx" movie unless Rob Cohen continued to direct the franchise.