Babylon A.D.

"Babylon A.D. has the look and feel of a skeleton: an unfinished outline that whooshes by so fast that it becomes incomprehensible as its storyline and characters are lost in a flurry of fast cuts and poorly choreographed action sequences. The film is frustrating because there are instances of genuine visual flair (such as the futuristic New York) and times when one senses there might be ideas worth exploring (the roles of corporate sponsorship and religion in the new order). Alas, this is a case of a potentially epic tale being pruned and diced to the point where its underlying ideas are reduced to trite clichés. The lackluster acting and horrendous dialogue don't help. And it says a lot about Babylon A.D. that director/co-writer Mathieu Kassovitz has made some damning statements about the theatrical version of the production that indicate he is unwilling to endorse the final cut...."

"Mathieu Kassovitz is making a determined challenge for the stylish French sci-fi thriller crown of Luc Besson with this highly effective, highly charged action movie, even though he has had to rather mangle the novel on which it is based. (Budget problems and studio meddling are partly to blame.) The film manages to retain clarity in what is a potentially complicated plot involving a cult religion which runs a Mongolian retreat yet advertises itself with skyscraper sized images of its High Priestess (Charlotte Rampling) on the sides of New York buildings. The ending is a bit rushed and the plot also chokes on the details of how and why the special foetus inside Aurora (Melanie Thierry) is going to save the world. But there is no choking Thoorop, as Vin Diesel brings his macho face and splendid voice to the task. We are never in doubt that he intends to finish the job he accepted from the larger than life Gorsky (Gerad Depardieu), whose role in the plot is perhaps another casualty of cuts..."

"I was eagerly awaiting Vin Diesel's return to the big screen in a science fiction flick, and his combination with Michelle Yeoh, who didn't fare too badly in Danny Boyle's Sunshine, would have made Babylon A.D. a decent pair up for both to show off their acting (ok, who am I kidding) - action chops rather, in a movie that had so much potential in its genetic make up, what with religion, artificial intelligence, and the likes all rolled into one. Sadly, what came through was a huge mess that is lacking a final act. Everything became conveniently forgotten, or addressed so hastily, you'll probably be wondering what went wrong. Truth is, with the spat between director Mathieu Kassovitz and the studio who wanted to wrestle creative control for a PG-13 rating, well, we all learnt the lesson already from Hitman, but I bet you certain quarters still have not. Action set pieces were bland and generic for a futuristic movie, and the editing so lazily done, relying on quick cuts and close ups to mask obvious inadequacies in production..."

"Even if it never finds an audience outside L.A., someone ought to write a book called When Dull Films Happen To Clever Production Designers. It would probably help console Babylon A.D. designers Paul Cross and Sonja Klaus. Their work helps the film realize a near-future living in the wake of a profound ecological and/or economic collapse. (What's happened is never made clear, but it was obviously unpleasant.) Most of the world lives in a sprawling, Third World black market where a rabbit trapped in a city park qualifies as a feast. The privileged few inhabit desolate urban palaces where any piece of glass can, and usually does, serve as a television screen. Blade Runner and Children Of Men did it before and better, but this world is made to look both lived-in and ickily plausible..."

"Babylon AD arrives on a wave of hype and publicity, almost none of it good and most of it the result of director Mathieu Kassovitz's interview on this very blog in which he complained about the treatment his movie has received at the hands of Fox, its distributor. He was upset that 15 minutes had been trimmed, he was angry about the studio tampering with his film and he dismissed the finished product as being nothing but "violence and stupidity" as a result. Now that the movie is actually in theaters, what's the verdict? I think he's being unfair about the violence, but as for the stupidity, he's right on. This one's got it in spades..."