Customer Reviews

Babylon A.D. [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

Much like The Spirit, a poorly-written, all-over-the-map misinterpretation of Will Eisner's character, complete with entertaining performances and stunning visuals, Babylon A.D. is a confusing, occasionally dry, very familiar mess with some strong performances and stunning visuals in service of a fairly engaging story. It is not, by any means, a great film. It is also not, by any means, a disaster. I noted that Babylon A.D. has one one-star rating on here, and I think the movie deserves better. I saw the film in theaters, and I was reasonably entertained up until the last five minutes. Not even The Spirit completely lived up to that standard.

When films like this come along, I wonder how many people tune out once they've seen a few things they don't like. I am a glass-half-full person. Hundreds of films come out every year, and 90% of them probably have merits that people simply ignore because it's easier to attack the things about them that aren't as sharp. Sure, it borrows from Blade Runner. Movies borrow from other movies. If this was automatically a strike against a film, Quentin Tarantino would have no fans. I personally think Vin Diesel is a fairly charismatic actor (see his recent effort Find Me Guilty for evidence of this), and yet it's like he's got a target on his head. I'm sure some people decided they didn't like this movie just on the basis that he's in it.

The "Unrated and Raw" presentation on DVD does not work miracles on the film. Numerous internet sources claim varying degrees of footage was altered or chopped out of the film, ranging from 15 minutes (since the theatrical cut ran 90m and this runs 103, that's about 15) all the way up to a towering 70m. Admittedly, this ending makes a LOT more sense (which is to say, any sense) than the theatrical ending, although, with apologies to director Mathieu Kassovitz, I liked the hummer chase, presented as a deleted scene on the 2-disc DVD (not to mention in the version without the chase, one set of antagonists just gives up, apparently).

For some reason, it's apparently easy to forget that the scale goes from one to five, and the three stars in the middle are more than padding for the first and last ones. I've seen movies that aren't even always in focus. Certainly a movie can become terrible long before it starts to fail on a technical level, but Babylon A.D. is not one of those movies. It's perfectly OKAY, and that's something that deserves some more credit.

Babylon A.D. / B001KMB6YG

*Spoilers*

I'm not really sure what happened here. Vin Diesel does mindless action, and does it well, and here is no exception - whatever flaws "Babylon A.D." has, they are not his fault. Nor are they the fault of Michelle Yeoh who carries herself (as always) superbly, leaving the viewer to wonder why, exactly, Yeoh keeps showing up in particularly flat action movies (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor leaps to mind) when she really is so much better than that and has proven it time and time again. Either there's still some kind of "White Actresses Only" rule barring Yeoh from the better movies, or she has a really terrible agent. Anyway.

Sometimes you can just tell when a movie is based off of a science fiction story you haven't been exposed to. "Babylon A.D." is definitely one of those movies - sure enough, the opening credits note a sci-fi story that may or may not be obscure, but which I definitely haven't read yet. A lot of the standard sci-fi fare is here: much of the world's animals have died out, and have been replaced by clones; America is a closed-borders super-power where a high standard of living is possible for the wealthy, but the rest of the world flounders in deep poverty and warfare; genetic modification of humans is the way to the future. Etc.

Into all this steps Vin Diesel, a conscientious mercenary given a second chance to re-enter America, if only he will deliver a sheltered teenager (and her adoptive mother, Yeoh) along the way. Vin Diesel is only too happy to comply, although he is understandably spooked by the sleepy-eyed girl he's been given charge of. When the girl starts displaying uncanny abilities, such as a near-psychic understanding of the immediate future, an ability to speak multiple languages fluently, and intimate knowledge of the controls of a derelict submarine, he recognizes that there's something a bit off about the young lady and - suspects - that she might be carrying a terrorist-created virus. If so, he vows to murder the girl before she can be 'activated', although this doesn't make much sense because (mind you, I'm not a biologist) it seems like that wouldn't necessarily neutralize the danger.

Anyway, that doesn't matter, because it turns out the girl is *really* a genetically modified human with 'the brain of a computer' and she's been impregnated with twins (apparently during a brief doctor's visit prior to the start of the movie) who are 'powerful' even in the womb, yet in a completely undefined sense. The girl's "mother" - the leader of a cult who commissioned her birth in the hope that this new messiah/madonna would bring in a few more converts - plans to kidnap the girl and...well, it's not exactly clear what she plans to do with her. Use her as a P.R. device, apparently, but it's not clear why Vin Diesel feels compelled to save her from this fate. For that matter, it's exceedingly creepy to see the young lady come on to Vin Diesel, given that he's getting at that age where he could probably be her father and, besides, his entire role in the movie up to her attempted seduction is a paternal one, not a romantic one. It would seem that Hollywood no longer knows how to portray a Man and a Woman without insisting that they "Find Twue Luv".

Despite serious differences in age and genetics, Vin Diesel realizes that he does love the girl and saves her from a non-specific fate that might be bad, but might not be. And then, because the movie was getting a bit longish, we immediately jump to the epilogue where we find that our Computer-Brain Girl was only designed to bear children and nothing more (why? how?) and she has spent the entire pregnancy in a coma (which we all know is just wonderful for fetal development, good grief), and once she delivers (in the quietest delivery ever), she will die and leave the infants in Vin Diesel's capable hands, where he will protect them from...what? Being used for evil, perhaps, although it's unclear how the children could be useful for anything more than the average human baby. This is left out, however, either because they were hoping for a sequel or - more likely - because they ran out of budget.

"Babylon A.D" suffers simultaneously from too much exposition and not enough of it. Huge swaths of dialogue are devoted to heart-to-heart conversations between Vin Diesel and Yeoh while they hash out that the girl is really super special and important - really! - without the viewer ever understanding *why* the girl is useful nor *why* her children are important or powerful or even where they came from. The result is that there is far too little mindless action (because we have to talk about Special! Computer! Girl!) for this to be a proper action flick, and yet far too little pertinent exposition for this to be a proper science fiction film. Since much of the movie feels sloppy and poorly edited, I expect that the whole thing was filmed with a proper amount of action and exposition and then someone with poor editing kung fu took out the relevant dialogue and left in the moody, introspective stuff.

It is possible that familiarity with the source material is just a necessity for proper viewing of this movie, however, I tend to feel that a movie should be able to stand on its own without needing "pre-reading" on the part of the viewer. In that sense, "Babylon A.D." fails, and I don't particularly recommend it as anything more than a mindless adult-protects-precocious-child-through-scifi-explosions movie, and if you want to watch something like that, at least Ultraviolet has vampires. I'm just saying.

I rarely go into Vin Deisel movies with high expectations given his limited range. Lets face it, when you build a certain physique and persona you have to accept the pigeonholing as an actor. I read other reviews and removed this from my pre-order list and made it a rental instead. What a surprize to the upside. Some of the critique for this movie is warrented and the ending as you find it now will leave questions. The most important attitude to see this movie with is to enjoy the process and not look for simple gratification in the ending. As a near futuristic movie, this film tackles the challenge of envisioning a near future with new technology that is, if not realistic, still far from the utterly rediculous that many movies try to present. THIS IS NOT JUST A DUMBED DOWN ACTION SPECTACLE. One might be surprized to see Vin in what is actually a very ambitious, intelligent movie for this genre in my opinion. Though any one part of the plot by itself may not be original, I found the sum total to be refreshingly different. There are also spectacular visuals, very well orchestrated action scenes, thought provoking issues and conflicts and very wonderful performances by many actors. Pay attention to the technologies and gadgets here and there, a little satyre on religion and the questions of real faith and spirituality. This is a really good movie that just couldn't do everything it wanted in the time allowed. Don't get me wrong, if I were rating the construction or editing of this movie it would be two stars. I have no doubt that it was butchered by idiots who had no faith in an original vision. If what I have read in other reviews is correct, this movie could really be a marvel if there is an extended version that doesn't screw it up. I wouldn't normally find myself looking forward to a three hour Vin Deisel movie but I would really like to see what they can do with this one.

This is a review of the DVD itself not the movie!

Don't waste you time on this movie. I saw this movie in the theaters and was severely disappointed in the DVD. The movie is missing several scenes that may or may not add to the plot line but for me were still part of the movie. If your familiar with the movie you will recognize the absence of the chase and ending scene with Vin and the two children. I believe they CUT an extra 10-15 minutes from the movie. You will also notice a change in some of the voice over during the beginning of the movie. I like the movie, its worth watching but not this version.

I love Michel Yeoh. I love Vin Diesel. This was badly written. I have no empathy for the characters. There was nothing for me to look forward to but the end.

When the director of a movie disses his own creation as it's released, you know that you're in for something spectacular. Spectacularly ghastly.

Alas, such is the case with Mathieu Kassovitz's "Babylon A.D." You can see why the director denounced his own work -- the end result is an incoherently chaotic thriller that comes across as the malformed, mildly psychotic love child of "Children of Men" and "Blade Runner." There are some really bad movies out there, but "Babylon A.D."'s incoherence puts it in a place of honor.

A Russian mobster (Gerard Depardieu) hires a thuggish mercenary with the bizarre name of Toorop (Vin Diesel) to do a simple task -- transport a girl named Aurora (Melanie Thierry) and her guardian Noelite nun (Michelle Yeoh) to New York. But it soon becomes obvious that Aurora is no ordinary charge -- she seems to have precognition and inherent knowledge that a sheltered girl could never have, such as how to operate a submarine. No, I am not making this up.

But it soon becomes obvious to Toorop that more is going on here than it appears -- apparently a malign High Priestess (Charlotte Rampling) is aiming to create a genetically-engineered messiah, which Aurora is now pregnant with (she's a virgin, by the way). Now Toorop -- whose cold, dark, selfish heart has been touched by Aurora -- must try to keep her safe from those who would use her...

The movie may be called "Babylon A.D.," but a better title would be "Babble-on Addled." Apparently Kassovitz's original creation was thoroughly sliced'n'diced in the editing room, and seemingly random parts were stitched back together. Therefore, this Frankenstein's monster is graced with more violence than plot, and manages to be both painfully simplistic and incomprehensible.

Admittedly, I doubt that it would have been worth much anyway -- the absurd religious criticism is handled with the subtlety of a sledgehammer in the eye (Virgin birth? "Noelite"?), and the dirty dystopia reeks of better, more unique movies that have come before.

But the choppy reediting makes it phenomenally awful -- about half the plot seems to have been whittled away. Presumably the plot was pared down to make room for the action sequences, which are filmed in a blurry, eyeball-jarring manner. Some of them -- like the snowmobile chase -- are outright ridiculous. Pair that with some truly excruciating dialogue ("Cross me and you'll have no place to hide anymore, Toorop." "It goes both ways, Gorsky"), and you're guaranteed to have a headache.

And near the end, the plot goes utterly downhill -- major developments spring up out of nowhere with only the barest shreds of foreshadowing, before spiraling down to a ghastly out-of-nowhere ending. It's as if someone slapped together two radically different versions of the same story, and expected the result to make sense.

Vin Diesel is playing basically the same character he always plays -- a thuggish, violent sort who Lives By His Own Rules and growls threateningly at everyone. Diesel is a pretty bad actor, but even a brilliant one would be hard-pressed to handle this dreck -- particularly since, late in the movie, we suddenly find out that he's got a Special Connection to Aurora.

Of course, Aurora is an even bigger waste -- she's super-smart, super-talented, super-pure, and bleats about sensing death when she isn't kicking butt with yet more magic abilities. Absolutely zero sense. Michelle Yeoh, Charlotte Rampling and Gerard Depardieu are all utterly wasted here, and it's almost embarrassing to see such good actors getting such a raw deal.

"Babylon A.D." is a spectacularly wretched piece of work, with a disastrously messy plot and random violence. Definitely give it a miss.

Vin Diesel's new sci-fi action "Babylon A. D." follows the story of Toorop, anti-heroic mercenary hired to transport a mysterious girl named Aurora into the near-future America. In the film helmed by French director Mathieu Kassovitz ("The Hate" "The Crimson Rivers" "Gothika"), the futuristic world is in total chaos - like the film itself which is about as chaotic as it gets.

For all the top-notch players including Michelle Yeoh, Gérard Depardieu, Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson and my favorite Mark Strong, with the cinematography of Thierry Arbogast ("The Fifth Element"), "Babylon A. D." is a mess. Visually the film is often interesting and I really like Vin Diesel, but each action set-piece only leaves us puzzled and confused instead of exciting us. Why should they use a train, not a plane? Why a submarine? Everything looks terribly contrived.

I know the director's complaints about the studio's interference. With all respect to Mathieu Kassovitz and everyone involved in this project, however, the film had no chance of becoming whatever he had envisioned. If we could ignore the confusing narrative gaps in the latter half of the story, the badly-edited snowmobile action sequence or the very irritating and poorly-acted character of Aurora who keeps nagging suggests something is wrong with the incoherent film from the very beginning.

"Babylon A. D." is a mildly entertaining action. Surely the visual designs sometimes look borrowed from other better films, but they are not boring. Still I am afraid that the film's production history would be more interesting than the film itself.

I rented this movie apprehensively, as I read some of the reviews on here. There wasnt much else to rent, and this movie did pique my interest and I had an odd desire to really want to watch it. I made sure to watch the UNCUT version when viewing, and I have to say that I was very pleasently surprised!

I know I will be bashed for this line too, but I have to admit that Vin's acting was actually fairly impressive - for the standard character that he always tends to play. He is no different in this movie, however there are subtle nuances to this role that made it stand out (in my mind at least).

The world on display in this movie was also fairly impressive - and I found that repeatedly throughout the movie that for a movie that is supposed to be this bad, it had a very impressive visual feel. The settings all felt unique and had great detail. My only complaint I guess would be the overly "ripped" off feel of the "megalopolis New York" to that of Blade Runner (over advertising, many extremely tall skyscrapers, etc). That and not enough of the movie actually took place in what could have been an extremely cool setting (NY that is).

There wasnt really all that much action, but there seemed to be enough to make the movie interesting while sticking to the main story (which I was actually glad for - beginning to get sick of action packed movies that have had their stories applied as an afterthought).

However, I will say that it always felt as if this movie should have been much much more. The epic scale and feel of the story, as well as the world, begged to be explored in much greater depth. The characters could have been a little deeper - and the actual plot of the story could have made a little more sense (did feel a bit contrived). Overall the movie did leave me wanting more - but I guess thats better than wanting to walk out of the theater!

If I bought this movie sight unseen, I would have been pleased. It was certainly worth the rental. All I can say is watch the movie, have an open mind (and zero expectations) and you will walk away entertained to say the least.

I normally like Vin Diesel and I'm a big fan of sci-fi, but this one just doesn't get off the ground. The story <no spoilers> is set sometime in the future against a series of backdrops that mix high tech and grunge. Something like Blade Runner, just not as well done. A mercenary, named Toorop (Diesel) is supposed to transport two females from some kind of convent in Russia to New York City. The younger of the two females is the package, the older one is her handler. As the journey unfolds you discover that the younger woman possesses some kind of mysterious traits (no spoilers).

The problem with the movie is that you spend so long in those dark, depressing scenes that it really takes a toll on the pace; worse yet, you never really get an engaging story line. It's plotted more like a video game. The group gets attacked, Toorop fights. The group gets attacked, Toorop fights. And though the human interest part could have made the movie tolerable, it too falls victim to all the dreary grunge scenes. In the end you feel like you spent two hours watching a gun fight in a junk yard. Just not my cup of tea.

I almost forgot this movie right after leaving the theatre. The action scenes are ridiculous. There's neither excitement nor suspense. The plot is bare bone. The acting is bland. Michelle Yeoh is a good actor but she had nothing to work on.

The money this film made at the box office accurately reflects how bad it is.