"Babylon A.D." moview review

Written by Sean McBride

Wednesday, 03 September 2008

Take the director’s advice and skip his latest film “Babylon A.D.” 20th Century Fox Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz Starring Vin Diesel, Melanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh, Gerard Depardieu, Charlotte Rampling and Mark Strong Rated PG-13   1 ½ Stars         Film critics know that it’s never a good sign when a studio decides to forego preview screenings for their new movie, so we were naturally leery about Vin Diesel’s new science fiction adventure, “Babylon A.D.” We had good reason to be frightened; not only did 20th Century Fox Films cancel all the press screenings, but the director publically trashed his film, calling it little better than “a bad episode of ‘24’.” Who am I to disagree with the director? “Babylon A.D.” is a confusing action flick all dressed up to look like a science fiction drama. Based on the book “Babylon Babies,” this is the story of a near-future mercenary (Vin Diesel) who is hired by a Russian gangster (Gerard Depardieu) to transport a mysterious young woman to New York City. An enigmatic nun (Michelle Yeoh) comes along for the ride, which is a good thing because shadowy forces seem to be set against our hero and the young woman (Melanie Thierry). What do they want from the girl? What secrets does she possess? And most importantly, will anybody in the audience care when the secrets are finally revealed. No. “Babylon A.D.” is a confusing mess, both story-wise and in the editing process. This is one of those films that tries to hide bad action sequences with ‘lots of quick edits. The result is a film that has no cohesion, making it almost impossible to tell what going on at times. Even more problematic is the cast that seems to be on autopilot. The film’s painfully bad dialogue doesn’t help matters, but the bottom line is that it’s impossible to get excited about a movie when the leading man looks bored. You don’t need a film critic to warn you here. If the director disowns the film and the cast doesn’t seem to care, I can’t honestly think of a reason why you should want to take the journey to “Babylon A.D.” Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published Wednesdays and Fridays in “The Port Arthur News.” He can be found weekly on KAVU-TV, KFDM-TV, and KVIC Radio. Additional reviews can be found at www.rottentomatoes.com, www.panews.com or at www.myvictoriaonline.com. Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@kavutv.com.