Rob Cohen, director of the upcoming spy thriller "XXX," must be a fan of
Luc Besson's "The Fifth Element."

There is no other explanation for the weird, off-the-wall popping in
of a scene from "Don Giovanni" in his movie, a la Besson's Inva Mulla
Tchako/Maiwenn Le Besco "Lucia di Lammermoor" duet.

There is a big difference, however.  Besson's nightclub-opera in the
year 2259, on the floating luxury planet Paradise, with a 7-foot-tall,
metallic-slick, all-blue, explosive and exploding diva, was a hoot and
five years after its appearance, still well remembered.

The "XXX" opera scene is just plain stupid, except for a long, loving look
at the glorious interior of the Prague State Opera (a.k.a., German Theater,
Smetana Theater, etc.), but without any of the outrageous fantasy or
musical curiosity that made "Element" memorable.

In "XXX," spy chief Samuel L.  Jackson confronts Vin Diesel, his offbeat,
reluctant agent-to-save-the-world, in the opera house's stalls - all empty,
while the performance is going on.  They just carry on, shouting at each
other, while Mozart is minding his business in the background.  Sigh.

But here's something even stranger than that scene:  in the absolute
disaster of this summer's Hollywood movies, "XXX" is among the best of a
very bad lot.  It's spectacular, funny and entertaining on the early-teen
level...  a test, which most other summer flicks fail miserably.

Prague has a lot to do with the "XXX" look, not only the opera house,
but streets, buildings, countryside, the nearby amazing mountain scenery.
Why Prague? Because of the new, huge Prague Studios, with the largest
single soundstage on the Continent, and significantly lower costs than
anything available in the US or Western Europe.  Be ready to see a lot
of Prague in upcoming movies - and we certainly could do a lot worse.

Janos Gereben/SF
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