Mr. Kassovitz, what happened? You wowed us all with the flat-out monumental film ‘La Haine’ in 1995 (Available on DVD in North America from CRITERION) and then…You decide to live a creative life of mediocrity. You directed a passable French thriller (Crimson Rivers), a sub-par Hollywood Horror fest (Gothika) and now you give us a second tier Vin Diesal actionner? Did you have a run in with a vampire that sucked every single drop of talent that once flowed strong through your veins?
In a sad global warming stricken future, Vin Diesel stars as a mercenary hired to transport a young girl (The multi-accented Mélanie Thierry) and her teacher (Michelle Yeoh) across numerous European countries. For comparisons sake, take all the over the top fun of ‘Chronicles of Riddick’, throw it to the side, cast an exhausted Vin Diesel (The guy can barely keep his eyes open here) and bring it all come as a terrible bore. Babylon A.D fails at everything it sets out to do. The action scenes are sloppy and confusing. The science-fiction elements are underdeveloped to the point of being nothing more than pretty set dressings. The closest things to characterizations are people saying things ‘she take of herself’A.K.A The Chinese woman is going to break out the kung-fu. Mathieu Kassovitz has shown time and time again that he can shoot a isually creative film. Sadly, you can only polish a turd so many ways.
When the director is quoted as saying "I'm very unhappy with the film. I never had a chance to do one scene the way it was written or the way I wanted it to be. The script wasn't respected. Bad producers, bad partners, it was a terrible experience." The idea gets across pretty clearly. It doesn’t’ take a super-short movie review to get the idea cross that this is nothing more than a waste of time.
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