REVIEW: Babylon A.D.

Vin Diesel is one of the few action stars around today. He shot to fame with The Fast And The Furious (2001) and became a force to reckon with when XXX (2002) was released. His latest film Babylon A.D. is based on Babylon Babies, a novel by Maurice Georges Dantec.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

The story is set a few decades into the future. Thoroop (Diesel) is a mercenary, who is a terrorist on America's wanted list. Gorsky (Gerard Depardieu) is a Russian mobster who offers Thoroop a half-million dollar contract to smuggle a young woman named Aurora inside America.

Aurora (Melanie Thierry) has been brought up at a convent by Sister Rebecca (Michelle Yeoh), a Japanese nun. Thoroop is very cold towards the ladies, and tells them he is just a delivery boy and that in six days he will have delivered the package (Aurora) and they’ll never see each other again.

The trio faces dangers in Russia, and Aurora starts behaving in a weird manner, making Thoroop highly suspicious of what he has got himself into. Aurora panics and runs away from a crowded train station, and Sister Rebecca explains she is scared of crowds. All of a sudden, a bomb goes off, destroying most of the train station, killing many people.

Things get even stranger when they board a submarine that takes refuges to Canada, and Aurora is infuriated when the submarine is forced to leave some people behind. She operates the 30-year-old submarine without ever having learned about it, throwing Thoroop into confusion and wonder.

PLOT EXCESS

Sister Rebecca then lets Thoroop in on a secret. She tells him Aurora is a very different person, that she could speak 19 languages and always seemed to know things she had never learned. She also tells him that a Noelite doctor had visited Aurora three months back, when she started behaving strangely. The doctor had given Aurora a pill, and had asked Rebecca to not tell anyone about Aurora's strange behaviour, and to take her to New York for treatment.

Gorsky has planted a tracking device in Thoroop's passport, and the trio find themselves being chased and attacked by people, sent by Aurora's supposedly dead father. It was her father who, using a super computer, had implanted intelligence into Aurora when she was a foetus.

Aurora's mother, known as High Priestess is the High Priestess (what else!) of a religious cult. Aurora announces she is pregnant with twins, and her mother wants Aurora at any cost as it'll be a 'virgin birth' and in some way will work in favour of her religious cult.

WHAT IS NOT GOOD

There are too many things going on, and it messes up the plot. I read the word 'epic' on the movie poster, but there is nothing epic about the story. Too many people and too many sub-plots take away from the movie instead of engaging the viewer.

Babylon A.D. has a lot of space for action, and with Vin Diesel, action is expected. More action (not necessarily stunts) would've been more than welcome, and the action here is enough only to whet your appetite, not to satisfy your hunger.

Michelle Yeoh plays Jap nun Sister Rebecca, and there should've been at least one more action sequence with her and Diesel kicking the daylights out of the baddies. The sequence in the nightclub is good, but it is not enough! Martial arts in a Hollywood action flick with Vin Diesel and Michelle Yeoh teaching Russian toughies a lesson or two would've been splendid, not only for the viewer but also the movie.

What is Gerard Depardieu playing a character like Gorsky for? And what a silly death he dies!

WHAT IS NOT BAD

The action sequences are good! Right from the start of Babylon A.D., Vin Diesel displays power and control in crucial situations. The chase in the snow-capped mountains is exciting, and the nightclub scene is just too good!

At the end of the snow-based chase, Diesel is wounded, and it’s relieving to see the hero as someone who is mortal and fallible. Vin Diesel is awesome destroying the big guy in a cage in the nightclub, in a fight to death. Thrash metal greats Sepultura's Dead Embryonic Cells blares as Diesel hammers the dude, ending his life right there.

Melanie Thierry looks hot, and she plays her role well. There is a scene where Thoroop and Aurora are about to get intimate, but Sister Rebecca spoils their and the audience's fun by walking in on them. Not really, it's a good thing because there is no room for sex or romance here.

Vin Diesel is a very good action hero. He fights well, is confident and doesn't overact!

The direction by Mathieu Kassovitz manages to hold your attention, and the fast-paced nature of Babylon A.D. ensures the story, though confusing at times, doesn't drag at any point.

VERDICT

A lot more violence and less focus on trying to add depth to the wannabe sci-fi plot would've sent this movie straight to Vin Diesel's 'best of' list. Still, Babylon A.D. is a pretty decent action flick.

RATING: 2.5/5

source:Buzz18