‘xXx: Return of Xander Cage’ director D.J. Caruso says it’s unfair that action films are "overlooked" at awards shows.
The 51-year-old American filmmaker has worked on action movies such as ‘Eagle Eye’ and ‘I Am Number Four’ and he thinks it’s time the Hollywood prize givers began to appreciate the "stunt work, cinematography and special effects" on display on the big screen in these movies.
Speaking at the European premiere of the blockbuster – which sees Vin Diesel reprise his role as Xander Cage – in London on Tuesday night (10.01.17), he said: "A lot of times, movies like this get overlooked … especially when you talk about stunt work, cinematography, special effects … a lot of these movies get looked over … but it’s a fun movie!"
The first ‘xXx’ film hit screens 15 years ago but Caruso thinks it is the right time for a sequel because the world needs a "rebel" like Xander.
He explained: "Now is the right time because of the zeitgeist of being a rebel and being who you are; sometimes you’re judged … right now the world is very accepting of being an individual and Xander is sort of great for the individuality.
"I feel like we need an action movie we can just sit back and have a good time with. We’re not changing the world!"
The upcoming action thriller film is centred on daredevil operative Xander Cage who, after coming out of self-imposed exile, faces a race against time to recover a sinister weapon known as Pandora’s Box – a device that controls every military satellite in the world. But after recruiting a new group of thrill-seeking cohorts, he finds himself mixed up in a deadly conspiracy that points to collusion at the highest levels of government.
Diesel stars alongside Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Toni Collette, Tony Jaa and Nina Dobrev in the flick.
Revealing why the film has such an international cast, Caruso said: "I went around the world because cinema in the world is going that way – it’s all global! We let them talk in their own accents – it’s not an American film, it’s a global film."
‘xXx: Return of Xander Cage’ hits cinemas on Friday (20.01.17).
xXx director D.J. Caruso angry at action awards snubs
