If the multiple and equally horrible The Chronicles of Riddick films weren't enough to tell directors Vin Diesel should never play the lead role in a film, Babylon AD solidifies that idea.
Though this could have the potential of being a prophetic futuristic blockbuster, it ended up just being a nightmare of bad acting and poor special effects.
Because of the poor script, the already sub-par acting was even more difficult to connect with, making the movie difficult to watch and to decipher.
Vin Diesel plays Toorop, a vigilante who aided refugees seeking to cross borders to safer countries in a war-ravaged Darwinistic future. Toorop is assigned to take one particular girl Aurora (Melanie Thierry) from a convent in Mongolia to New York.
The plot also drags into (spoiler alert) the fact the convent Aurora is part of is actually more like a cult. The followers want to become a bona fide religion so they implant Aurora with messiah-esque children so she can be their version of the Immaculate Conception.
Even more cliché, a love interest is vaguely developed between Toorop and Aurora.
There are no twists and turns to add interest in Babylon AD. Every aspect of the storyline is both extremely predictable and dull.
The movie is supposed to be an adaptation of Maurice G. Dantec's book Babylon Babies (a movie adaptation of a book gone terribly awry, who could have seen that coming). However, the underlying realistic dystopian themes in Dantec's book are not brought to the forefront.
The one (slightly) redeeming aspect of this movie is that it juxtaposes war-torn areas, smuggling people across borders in harsh climates, with a thriving futuristic New York, apparently little affected by these happenings (except when Vin Diesel comes into town).
The ideas of complete disorder and widespread panic translating into mass refugees and dangerous treks to cross borders does not fall too far from what could happen in the future.
However, the plot lines are muddled and none of the characters in the film are developed adequately. It's as if pointless action sequences got confused with what should have been critical moments to develop the plot.
The action sequences did nothing to save the movie. They were often quick, blurry and did not provide the rush or "edge of the seat" feeling one expects when seeing action sequences.
The acting equally failed, making it extremely difficult to take anything in the movie seriously.
Vin Diesel is not a horrible actor (with a few more classes he could probably do very well and I mean that in all seriousness), but like Sylvester Stallone (without the heavy accent), strong emotional roles are not easy for him. This discomfort can easily be identified throughout the film, which makes it even more uncomfortable for the audience.
Gerard Depardieu is randomly placed in this film as Gorsky, a skeevy leader who propositions Toorop to take the assignment. Apparently Depardieu is having trouble saying no to movie roles no matter how minute and damaging they could be.
Michelle Yeoh, more well known for her fantastic role in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, is placed into a minute type-cast role of Sister Rebeka. She is basically Aurora's caretaker who has some ass-kicking abilities.
Even the costume design was bizarre and random. It looked as though Studio Canal cut director Mathieu Kassovitz off before finishing so he had to skimp on the basics. Depardieu had makeup and prosthesis that looked like they were on the verge of falling off of his face (now that's an acting challenge if ever one existed).
The special effects also appeared to be from the '90s (or stolen from a James Bond film). It appears either the budget was cut on this film or there was no budget in the first place.
Overall, Babylon AD was more of an apocalyptic meltdown than a raging sci-fi fantasy success.
Grade: D
