Babylon A.D.
Babylon A.D. is your not so typical sci-fi thriller starring Vin Diesel with plenty of raw action but the story could have used a little work.
Film making 10/25
Cinematography 18/25
Audio 18/25
Bonus Features 22/25
Total 68/100
Vin Diesel is back and better than ever in Babylon A.D., the futuristic tale a religious sect and their “miracle” that brings surprises to almost no one. Vin Diesel plays Toorop, a mercenary who is paid to escort a young woman from a Eastern European mission to the big city of New York.
The future is not so bright for many in the world, crime is rampant and religion is now a much sought after escape for many. Toorop is paid to escort a young woman he only knows as Aurora and her guardian Sister Rebeka played by Michelle Yeoh.
They must get from Eastern Europe to America and Ney York without hurting Aurora and both Toorop and Rebeka are really put to the test here. Action is fast and intense as the three go from Russia’s waste lands to the bitter cold of the Arctic to cross into America through the northern border.
They are being chased from start to end and even traces of their past are being wiped out when someone bombs the convent Aurora and Sister Rebeka are from. Throughout the trek to New York more is found out about Aurora by Toorop and he begins to see her for who she really is.
Toorop is killed and brought back to life for a final battle against the forces that have propelled him into the life and future of Aurora and Rebeka. He finally is told what Aurora is and why she is so important to the religious group the Neolites by the doctor who implanted her with the knowledge of the world.
He explains to Toorop that he implanted intelligence into Aurora using a super computer while she was still a fetus as well as a way to have her give birth without having sex. Toorop finds Aurora by looking back into his own memories of the last moments before he died and discovers that Aurora told him were to find her after he was brought back to life.
The Neolites know Toorop’s body was removed from the morgue so they visit the doctor who implanted knowledge into Aurora and he tells her that she will never find Aurora before the head of the Neolites kills him. Aurora dies during the delivery of her special babies and Toorop takes the twins away from the hospital to raise them on his own.
While the movie has a pretty decent premise the actual story is a bit hard to follow and it took me a few t times through some scenes to figure out the whole story. The special effects are pretty good and overall the movie was decently made but the main problem is the story leaves a lot to the imagination and very short explanations.
If you miss some small part you don’t get a whole area of the movie like why so many are chasing after Aurora and they suddenly leave the chase when Aurora tells some men who grabbed her from Toorop that she wants no one to die. Toorop shoots one of the men in the shoulder when they are fleeing right after grabbing Aurora from Toorop and Aurora tells the men she does not want anyone to die as an explanation of why she wants to go with Toorop sop they just let her leave with Toorop.
I can see why they did not want to get shot but they just give up and let Aurora go with Toorop without fighting anymore like Aurora had complete command over them. This is not explained anymore and I still have no clue why they left this scene without any better explanation or did it any differently.
This happens often and many times I was thinking why did they do this or that when it could have been written a bit differently to better explain and have things come out more logically. The movie just has a poor screenplay and did not translate very well to a well made movie other than a bunch of actions scenes very reminiscent of other Vin Diesel movies.
The Raw and Uncut Edition of Babylon A.D. contains a lot of bonus content with the usual making of, stunts and car chase sequence making of for some additional fun content. They have also included a graphic novel that plays using the regular movie player and helps to explain the movie a bit better, this should actually have been part of the movie as a regular filmed sequence.
There are also some bonus still gallery images and some commercials created for the movie that are played during the movie on televisions in some scenes. The bonus features are pretty good but without a really good movie they will probably not get you very far.
The Blu-ray edition of Babylon A.D. also includes plenty of extras but the same ones the Uncut and Raw Edition also includes. Both the Uncut and Raw Edition and the Blu-ray edition include a digital copy for use on your computer but they are both the same except for the better graphics and D-Box motion control system the Blu-ray edition does use.
Babylon A.D. is not the best movie and one you may want to rent instead of purchase but Vin Diesel and Michelle Yeoh did a great job of acting in the film. This is the typical action stuff of Vin Diesel but the story is just not done well.