VIDEO 'XXX' CAN JOIN BOND - BUT IT CAN'T BEAT HIM.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Demographics are what's at the heart of ``XXX,'' out today on DVD. This James Bond takeoff aimed at the video-game generation starts off cheekily enough. An American spy in Prague dressed in black garb has just stolen important information from a group of anarchists planning to wage a terror campaign. Then, in 007 fashion, the agent peels off his disguise to reveal a tuxedo. Being pursued, the exceptionally tailored spy runs into a club - of the wrong sort. Inside are a bunch of head-bangers and a wild concert in full throttle. As he tries climbing onto the stage, the penguin is easily spotted by the baddies and dispatched with a bullet to the chest. His lifeless body falls back on top of the frenzied crowd who pass him around as just another unconscious reveler.

Cut to California, where Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) has just boosted the Corvette of a state senator who wants to ban rap. Leading the police on a merry chase, he drives the sports car off a bridge and parachutes out - after making his point on live TV.

X, as he is called, is then recruited by a National Security Agency honcho named Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) to join the spy group or face a long prison term. The reason is simple - the agency has been losing penguins, and they want someone to blend in with the partying Eurotrash with the deadly biological weapons.

But just when you thought you were going to get something different, ``XXX'' begins following the Bond template, except with X-Games-style stunts. Under the direction of Rob Cohen, who joined earlier with Diesel on the unexpected hit ``The Fast and the Furious,'' ``XXX'' becomes a frenetic, head-throbbing 007 film, including a charismatic bad villain Yorgi, (Marton Csokas); a bad-good beauty, Yelena (Asia Argento, the daughter of Italian horror film director Dargio Argento); a gadget guy like M (except younger and nerdier); a big battle scene at the end; and, of course, a gratuitous bedding scene. ``The things I'm gonna do for my country,'' X grins as he ogles a near-naked beauty who has been left in his bed as a sort of present to keep him warm on cold Prague nights. (The film, however, doesn't go further, keeping its PG rating.)

``XXX'' is often too much, piling on the violence and stunts. (The explosions become tiresome after awhile, but don't they in a Bond film, too?). Luckily it throws in some humor (more would have been welcomed). ``Dude, you have a bazooka,'' X shouts at a cohort during a climactic battle scene. ``Stop thinking cop and start thinking PlayStation. Blow s--- up!'' It's an amusing line that reminds us that we're in a brave (or depraved) new world. Without Diesel, this film would also be like watching a video game, but he demonstrates a new sort of antihero appeal that humanizes it somewhat.

The DVD includes a feature on Diesel, who will be back for the sequel in 2004, as well as the usual behind-the-scenes material.

``XXX'' (Columbia) lists for $27.98 on DVD.

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Photo:

no caption (scene from ``XXX'')