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The immortal hero performing unbelievable stunts on the ground and in the air alike, counting bullets by kilograms and dead bodies by dozens. Cynical lines, fast cars and a femme fatale. James Bond? Not likely, it’s only Vin Diesel in town.
American director Rob Cohen isn't denying his inspiration with 007; his goal was to provide the new generation with a similar action hero. Thus the character Xander Cage was born, a fan of adrenaline sports who likes to film his own stunts and share them online with great success. Xander is a very active member of a subculture sharing a rather wild lifestyle, wearing specific clothes and listening to heavy music. However, one day all is changed, and a new, even more furious adventure is ready to begin.
The filmmakers have proved that action thrillers don't always have to be made in studios with green screens and specially adjusted backdrops. They simply travelled to the Czech Republic. With a little help of digital effects, they managed to create the setting of crazy car chases and gun fights, and place them not only in the historical part of Prague, but also in the countryside. With a bit of overstatement we could say that Prague played one of the film's leading roles, despite that some scenes appear rather funny. When you try to make your way through crowds of tourist on the Charles Bridge, you simply have to question the mind of a driver who would choose to drive over this bridge in a car chase. Maybe he was just trying to blend in.
The action story filmed in the Czech Republic offered a few Czech stunt performers a chance to feature in scenes that actors found too dangerous to act in by themselves. Stars like Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson or Danny Trejo were thus comfortable to know that there were stand-ins ready for the really dangerous stuff and they would actually quite enjoy it.