Babylon A.D

We've got your back Vin.

A by the numbers futuristic Sci-fi movie, Babylon AD is worth noting if only to see that Vin Diesel is actually still alive and well.

The film itself obviously suffers from comparisons to other giants in this genre, most notably the Granddaddy ‘Bladerunner’ and although having very little originality to rely on Babylon AD does have just about enough to haul it out of ‘one-star’ hell.

A mercenary living in Russia is hired to escort a woman to a highly fortified America. The mysterious girl (Mélanie Thierry) is accompanied by her guardian (Michelle Yeoh) who will not leave her side and joins the dangerous mission.

As they journey across various wastelands the girl begins to show special abilities that both protect and endanger those around her. When the trio finally arrive in America they realise the full implications of what they are doing…

One of the mock trailers in the outstanding ‘Tropic Thunder’ has Ben Stiller’s character starring in pretentious-looking futuristic Blockbuster called ‘Scorcher 2’.

I mention this because that was all I could think about as I was watching this. The heavy-handed message is delivered constantly to the viewer and the silent, brooding hero is so unremarkable that you could easily swap Stiller’s ‘Scorcher’ for Diesel’s ‘Toorop’.

Babylon AD treads a fine line between sci-fi and sentimentality, and fails to elevate it’s source material to the levels of the outstanding (and similarly-themed trio on the run movie) ‘Children of Men’.

Some neat touches remind us of the potential here but never amount to anything substantive. The chemistry between the leads is uneven and relationships end up going nowhere fast. We learn nothing about the backgrounds of the leads and even the dramatic flashback opening is undone later in the film.

There is a good film hiding in this mess but fussy editing, reshoots and rewrites appear to have ruined the director’s original vision for the film.

As for Vin Diesel, I suspect he will be hoping next year’s Fast and Furious (third sequel in the cops and cars franchise) will mark his comeback… good luck with that.

2/5

Cheers to Screenjabber.com for this review.

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