Plot In the not-too-distant future, mercenary Toorop (Diesel) is hired to transport a cloistered girl (Thierry) from Russia to sanctuary in the US. The package is more than she seems, however, and several interested parties want to get their hands on her.
Review There was a time when Vin Diesel was a shoo-in as Hollywood’s premier tough guy. But thanks to a string of camp-as-you-like roles, the perception was short-lived. Diesel hadn’t so much put a dampener on his hard man image as drowned it in a bucket of rose water. But the asphalt-gargling opening voiceover here (a direct throwback to Pitch Black) heralds the return of Macho Vin, a gruff force of nature who cracks heads, breaks bones and racks up a fair bodycount during the film’s happily short runtime. Unfortunately, the star’s return to fighting form is the sole consolation from an otherwise garbled sci-fi yarn.
Based on French novel Babylon Babies by Maurice G. Dantec, Babylon A. D. is a vision of the future awash with dystopian clichés. Life is cheap, resources are scarce, bloodsports entertain the masses. Through this sea of human refuse, Diesel’s mercenary drags comely naïf Aurora - played by a pouty Mélanie Thierry - across the frozen North to safety/destruction in New York. Thierry veers from horrified shellshock to moral outrage depending on what’s blowing up/who’s being gunned down at the time. Michelle Yeoh provides emotional variance as Aurora’s guardian nun, but her verbal sparring with the uncouth Toorop fails to survive beyond a couple of exchanges, leaving the relationship between all three protagonists distant and disinterested.
Arguably, action’s more important than emotional nuance here, and that is at least plentiful. Diesel barrels through the film waving fists and firearms, gamely hurling himself into a cage fight, an Arctic chase sequence and a shootout in Manhattan traffic. But the fights are competent rather than exhilarating, which is a problem given the incoherence of the narrative. The film seems unable to decide upon a plot or a MacGuffin, and veers unsteadily between a less tongue-in-cheek Transporter and a futuristic Golden Child. Kassovitz seems to give up on narrative altogether in the final act and caps the story with a flat climax (if anyone knows what happens to Charlotte Rampling, let us know) and a bewildering coda.
Still, if you’re in the market for some unsophisticated Diesel power you may find this a guilty pleasure - if only to see a weirdly overdubbed Gérard Depardieu sipping cocktails in the back of a pimped-out armoured personnel carrier/sex pad.
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Average user rating for Babylon A.D.
Babywrong A.D.
This was basically largely bollocks, looked low budget with pretty average action and a rubbish plot about some girl with weird powers, however it still kept me interested and I didn't find myself getting bored with it particularly. For that reason I'll give it three stars
Good to see Vin Diesel back in an action role as well - I'm also looking forward to The Fast and the Furious 4 ... Read More
L: genejoke
L: paulyboy
**Massive Spoilers**
Bit of a mess this one. In all honesty it's not that bad up until the last 15 minutes, it zips along well enough and there's a nice little dynamic developing between Diesel, Yeoh and Thierry by that point. Then Lambert Wilson shows up to lay an explanation on us and the whole thing derails.
I /i]I know what the film was about, something to do with A.I enhanced babies (don't ask), genetically engineered messiahs and religous nutj... Read More
I actually enjoyed the first half of this - the bleak Russian society, the obvious aftermath of war and the unknown element of the mission. Then they got to New York and it lost me -I have no idea what the Hell was going on ...
shame ... Read More
quite the worst film ive seen this year even jumpers was better than this its very similar to children of men witha little golden child and fifth element even. the film and theb ending are so hpelessly in coherent and muddled what does happen at the endthe studio has edited the guts out of the movie to get low cert would directors cut make any difference only if it explained characters fates 1 star sorry ... Read More
According to german site Schnittberichte.com Germany will get a longer cut of the film. That is because over here the film is not distributed by FOX but by a smaller label called Concorde which bought the rights from the French distributor instead of FOX.
www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=963
So a longer cut of the film already exists. ... Read More
L: paulyboy
**Massive Spoilers**
Bit of a mess this one. In all honesty it's not that bad up until the last 15 minutes, it zips along well enough and there's a nice little dynamic developing between Diesel, Yeoh and Thierry by that point. Then Lambert Wilson shows up to lay an explanation on us and the whole thing derails.
I /i]I know what the film was about, something to do with A.I enhanced babies (don't ask), genetically engineered messiahs and religous nutjobs yeah? Tha... Read More
**Massive Spoilers**
Bit of a mess this one. In all honesty it's not that bad up until the last 15 minutes, it zips along well enough and there's a nice little dynamic developing between Diesel, Yeoh and Thierry by that point. Then Lambert Wilson shows up to lay an explanation on us and the whole thing derails.
I /i]I know what the film was about, something to do with A.I enhanced babies (don't ask), genetically engineered messiahs and religous nutjobs yeah? That said... Read More
The Film had potential but its the same old shit from Diesel. It feels like it has been chopped up by the studio to kept the runtime nice and short at 90 mins. A couple of good scenes but that is it. ... Read More
L: Mojo
L: Rgirvan44
Anyone seen this yet?
I was thinking of doing a double bill with this and The Strangers. While I don't have high hopes for it I am a sucker for this kind of distopia film, and sue me I like Vin.
'm the same, reviews have put me off a bit but I really want Vin to become a huge action star and as you said I like dystopias. I'll probs check it out anyway, and hold out for Fast and Furious for Vin to return to form.
sp;
I have only ever seen 2 Fast 2 F... Read More
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