When I go to see a movie, I have a few rules, as most of us do. I don’t like missing the trailers, subtitles don’t bother me, and one of my more specific ones is to stay clear of anything featuring Vin Diesel. If you like him, that’s fine. I won’t think anything less of you, but I just don’t get into his movies or his acting skills. In spite of all this I for went my rule and trudged into my local theater to see Babylon A.D. I should have followed my own rules.Babylon A.D. is a low tech cyber punk story based on a French novel named Babylon Babies. The story mainly centers around hard skinned mercenary Toorop (Diesel). After being exiled from America for terrorist acts, Toorop gets the opportunity to finally go back while escorting a little girl named Aurora (Thierry) and her monk care keeper Sister Rebeka (Yeoh). His journey takes him from Mongolia through Russia and then to New York. Along the way, Toorop is forced to protect his passengers from a religious group called Noelite, and a group of men saying that they were sent by Aurora’s father, who is supposed to be dead. As the journey becomes more intense Aurora begins to show knowledge and powers that no human that has been stashed in a monastery for their whole lives should ever have. Toorop is forced to make a decision whether he should give up the girl for his own good, or defend her for the sake of the world.
The film brought many disappointments to this reviewers eyes. I went in with a bit of hope. I am big fan of cyber punk and will see anything that has a near future feel. This the reason why I paid eight dollars to see Ultra Violet (By the way Trash the hell out of It when it comes to Ultra Violet). Babylon A.D. takes a wrong turn right off the bat with the unnecessary killing of
a character with out much explanation other than prior history. The rest of the film devolves into a story designed for action stunts rather than telling a story that a viewer can latch on to and lose themselves in. There are also some very awkward moments and plot holes that could have been patched up with a little explanation or just a cut of the film.We all know my thoughts on Vin Diesel with the afore mentioned rule. Other than that, the acting is bland and at times awkward. This could be the result of the writing or the apparent rewriting that occurred between pre and post productions. Apparently, the story is that 20th Century Fox removed control of the film from its director Mathieu Kassovitz and made heavy changes to production without his approval. He even called the distributor out on the move and was very upset with the changes.
The one shining light that did come from the film was the world and the tech inside of it. There were some very nice touches. One of my favorites was a fold out map that had a touch screen L.E.D. screen used for plotting Toorop’s course. The world itself had a lot of intrigue as well. There is a religion trying to prove the validity, some kind of conflict going on that causes everyone to carry guns and be on their guard when they go anywhere in public, and of course the criminal underground is ran out of back street club where barbaric fights occur. This is what any cyber punk’s wet dream would consist of.
All in all, the movie was a very big let down. If you are a fan of over the top action, shitty story, and you don’t have a rule against seeing Vin Diesel movies, by all means go see it. Otherwise, save your eight bucks for another day.
(Rated PG-13. 90 min.)
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