THE NAME'S CUBE, ICE CUBE, IN 'XXX'.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

THE AUDACIOUSLY idiotic ``XXX: State of the Union'' opens with a severed jugular and ends with the president of the United States throwing a haymaker and heartily declaring, ``(Expletive) you!''

In between, this sequel careens wildly between the uninspired and the absurd, building up to an earsplitting, freakishly over-the-top finale that seems born either of desperation or a bender that would make Hunter S. Thompson proud.

All of this makes ``State of the Union'' eminently more entertaining that its lumbering predecessor, which starred Vin Diesel as the anti-Bond title character. Diesel has been jettisoned here in favor of Ice Cube, and while the lumpy Cube strains credibility as a butt-kicking special agent, his doughy presence simply fits the movie's fantastic fabric of ridiculousness.

The terrain has shifted from Europe to the States, with Cube's special agent contending with a conspiracy to assassinate the nation's leaders and install a new government run by a figure resembling George W. Bush. Samuel L. Jackson returns as the XXX handler and has more screen time this time around, though Simon Kinberg's screenplay gives him little to do besides look grave and spout earnest dialogue.

Given how obsessed the first movie was with establishing ``XXX'' as the extreme-sports generation's antidote to stodgy old James Bond, it's positively funny that ``State of the Union'' is directed by Lee Tamahori, who helmed the last 007 movie (``Die Another Day''). The unifying presence here is producer Neal Moritz. Like his ``Fast and Furious'' films, ``State of the Union'' fetishizes hot rods, gadgets and high-tech weaponry, putting the movie directly in the wheelhouse of adolescent boys with lifetime subscriptions to Stuff magazine.

Women do occasionally appear in this universe, though they are reduced to being either ``bitches'' or accessories. One commonality: All wear bras that hike their breasts up to their eyeballs and universally prefer hot rods, gadgets and high-tech weaponry to reading selections from Oprah's Book Club.

Blatant misogyny? Yes, but then the movie also gleefully glorifies criminal activity while exalting Moritz's ``Rebel Without a Cause'' world view, which posits that hustlers must hustle or be hustled. Or something like that.

Honestly, how seriously can you take a cartoon that so obviously uses Los Angeles locales for its Washington, D.C., setting (love the shots of the Wilmington oil refineries during the finale), features characters speaking almost exclusively in action-movie cliches. (Agent to Cube: ``If you run, you'll look guilty.'' Cube: ``I was born looking guilty'') and sports a rocket-launcher attack on the Capitol building.

The ending has Jackson musing about the next XXX agent. Taking the next logical step, may I suggest Wile E. Coyote?

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

XXX: STATE OF THE UNION - Two and one half stars

(PG-13: intense action violence, language.)

Starring: Ice Cube, Samuel L. Jackson.

Director: Lee Tamahori.

Running time: 1 hr. 41 min.

Playing: In wide release.

In a nutshell: Better than the original, but then so is a root canal.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Ice Cube fights the forces of tyranny in ``XXX: State of the Union.''