Release Date:
Friday, August 29, 2008
Directed by: Mathieu Kassovitz
The Skinny: In a vague near-future, a gruff mercenary (Vin Diesel) is hired to run protection for a nun (Michelle Yeoh) and a mysterious young woman (Mélanie Thierry) who is possibly a living biological weapon, the messiah, or just a pouty French model.
The Good: There are a couple of decent action scenes (the cage fight-turned-riot and the chase across the tundra), but they are mere blips in this completely incoherent head-shaker of a movie.
The Bad: Imagine a meathead getting really drunk and half-passing out during Children of Men and The Matrix and then trying to recap the plot to you as if he thinks they were both one movie. That's kind of how Babylon A.D. feels. There's something going on in it, but damned if we could tell you what. It actually made us long for the days of Riddick.
This Is Bad, Right? What's worse than a critic describing Babylon A.D. as "pure violence and stupidity parts of the movie are like a bad episode of 24"? How about the movie's director saying that? Yep, Kassovitz hasn't exactly been coyhe blames 20th Century Fox for destroying his movie in the editing room.
Theater, DVD, or TNT in Five Years? Rent it. Maybe Kassovitz can salvage something with a "Director's Cut." But we kind of doubt it.
The Skinny: In a vague near-future, a gruff mercenary (Vin Diesel) is hired to run protection for a nun (Michelle Yeoh) and a mysterious young woman (Mélanie Thierry) who is possibly a living biological weapon, the messiah, or just a pouty French model.
The Good: There are a couple of decent action scenes (the cage fight-turned-riot and the chase across the tundra), but they are mere blips in this completely incoherent head-shaker of a movie.
The Bad: Imagine a meathead getting really drunk and half-passing out during Children of Men and The Matrix and then trying to recap the plot to you as if he thinks they were both one movie. That's kind of how Babylon A.D. feels. There's something going on in it, but damned if we could tell you what. It actually made us long for the days of Riddick.
This Is Bad, Right? What's worse than a critic describing Babylon A.D. as "pure violence and stupidity parts of the movie are like a bad episode of 24"? How about the movie's director saying that? Yep, Kassovitz hasn't exactly been coyhe blames 20th Century Fox for destroying his movie in the editing room.
Theater, DVD, or TNT in Five Years? Rent it. Maybe Kassovitz can salvage something with a "Director's Cut." But we kind of doubt it.