“Babylon A.D.” (2008) / Z-View

Babylon A.D. (2008)

Director:  Mathieu Kassovitz

Writers:  Mathieu Kassovitz & Joseph Simas (screenplay) with Éric Besnard (scenario and dialogue) based on the novel by Maurice G. Dantec.

Starring:  Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Mélanie Thierry, Gérard Depardieu and Charlotte Rampling.

Tagline:   Save the World One Child at a Time.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

In the near future, Toorop (Diesel), is an exiled American mercenary living in a dangerous gang-ridden Russian slum.  Toorop is hired to safely transport Aurora (Thierry) and her guardian (Yeoh) across the war torn continent and sneak them into the United States.  Under the best circumstances this would be a tough gig, but the fact that two different organizations have sent armed teams to kidnap Aurora for vastly different reasons makes survival unlikely.

Babylon A.D. is an under-rated and flawed film that I absolutely love.  Bad weather, budget over-runs, problems  between the director and 20th Century Fox all contributed to the end result.  20th Century Fox released a drastically cut (reports range from 15 to 93 minutes shorter than the director’s cut) theatrical version with almost zero publicity.  In 2011, Mathieu Kassovitz released a behind the scenes documentary of the troubled production called Fucking Kassovitz.  I’ve seen the documentary.  It is clear that problems with the production team meeting the director’s vision were enormous.

With that said, I still love Babylon A.D.  It has scope, vision and attempts to rise above the action genre film.  There’s so much to love.  The opening with Toorop in the Russian slum.  Gorsky (Depardieu), the Russian crime lord’s method of getting Toorop on board.  How Gorsky gets Toorop to the convent to pick-up Aurora.  Slowly seeing that there is more to Aurora than meets the eye.  The gradual development of respect and then friendship between Toorop and Sister Rebeka (Yeoh).  The parkour fighters.  Toorop “rescuing” Aurora from the monster cage fighter.  The submarine scene.  Escaping the drones.  The New York showdown and more.

Babylon A.D. is not a great movie.  As I said at the start, it is flawed.  But I love what they did get on film.  I’ve watched Babylon A.D. several times over the years and like it better with each viewing.  This is one where I expect the mileage will differ from mine with many viewers.  Why not give it a shot and see?  As for me, I rate Babylon A.D. five of five stars.