Diesel iced, Cube keeps cool in bad ”XXX” sequel

The sequel to “The Fast and the Furious” proved there is box-office life after Vin Diesel. The sequel to “Pitch Black” indicated Hollywood might be better off without him when it comes to follow-up films.

Ice Cube fills in for Diesel in “XXX: State of the Union,” the next installment in the franchise about a National Security Agency program to recruit the baddest of bad boys for the baddest of assignments.

The new movie is as preposterously plotted and outrageously combustible as the 2002 original, so action fans will come away with their fire-and-brimstone quotient well sated. And those tired of Diesel fumes will find Ice Cube a refreshing proxy.

Not that the sequel is anything close to a good movie, but Cube is a more personable presence and better actor than Diesel, while still retaining the smoldering stoicism.

Samuel L. Jackson’s return in a beefed-up role as puppetmaster of the “XXX” brand and Willem Dafoe’s recruitment as a traitor intent on taking over the presidency theoretically gussy up the sequel. Neither character has enough depth for the actors to make much dramatic impact, though.

Masked infiltrators come gunning for Augustus Gibbons (Jackson), leaving his underground “XXX” headquarters a massacre scene. Because of the assailants’ super-advanced gadgets, Gibbons naturally concludes the attack came from a faction within his government. (Why should the filmmakers let unsubstantiated leaps of logic get in the way of blowing things up?)

Gibbons decides he needs to go even further off the grid for his next “XXX” (Diesel’s character is unsentimentally done away with through references to his death in Bora Bora). Stepping in is imprisoned former Special Ops hotshot Darius Stone (Cube), whom Gibbons busts out of jail.

Drawing on his military training and ghetto roots, Darius crosses paths with friends and foes that include an old flame (Nona Gaye), a dogged FBI guy (Scott Speedman), a car-jacking chum (Xzibit) and a perky Senate aide (Sunny Mabrey).

Director Lee Tamahori (“Die Another Day”) piles on so much destruction that it muffles the many absurdities in the fuzzy story as the action builds to a showdown. The movie sets up a potential turnstile series of sequels featuring a new lead actor each time, closing with banter on what sort of person is needed for the next “XXX” agent.

Our vote: Martha Stewart. A real jailbird could do wonders remodeling the franchise.