Entertaining, But Ultimately Unsatisfying
Babylon AD takes place in the distant future, several decades actually. Perhaps not surprisingly Earth has become a post apocalyptic hell of sorts, at least as far as much of Europe and Russia are concerned. Enter Toorop, the seasoned mercenary that lives in Serbia. Toorop is paid an explosive and unexpected visit from an old friend (and about a dozen of his heavily armed companions). He’s forced to enter into a conversation with an old colleague of his he’d just as soon forget, but this colleague has a job for him; one that could pay enough that Toorop could finally retire, as he had been wanting to do.
The job? Escort a young girl from a remote monastery to America. He’s provided with the necessary injection to give him a valid US passport, but the rest is up to him. Toorop arrives at the monastery to pick up Sister Rebeka, played by Michelle Yeoh, and her young apprentice of sorts, Aurora, played by Mélanie Thierry. Together the trio must get out of Serbia and to America by any means necessary. Toorop doesn’t know what’s so important about her, but like any good merc he’s only interested in the payoff, not the reasoning behind the job.
The majority of the ninety minute action flick is about showcasing the perils the three get into as they trek across Russia, into Alaska and Canada, and finally New York. Along the way they’ll encounter a religious cult that is bent on capturing her as well as several other bad guys that must be dealt with. Vin Diesel uses guns, fists, and snowmobiles (including some XXX style maneuvers to outwit a couple of armed drones) to get to America, but the fight is long from over once he arrives.
It’s revealed that Aurora has immaculately conceited two babies that she is due to bear. These babies are seen as the sign of some kind of next coming or revelation, and for me that was one area of the story that wasn’t fleshed out enough to make a great deal of sense. As the action ends and the film begins to wind down in a dramatic fashion, with the focus being on Aurora and these babies, I was left confused and disappointed; then suddenly the credits ran and I was further surprised.
In the end, Babylon AD didn’t really make a great deal of sense, but on the same token I really wasn’t watching the movie for a deep and moving story. The action isn’t bad and overall I would call the movie entertaining, and worth a watch, but I really don’t see myself watching it again. Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh (one of my favorite actresses), and Mélanie Thierry do a fine job with their roles, but it’s the overall plot and story that disappoint.
Two Disc Blu-ray
The two disc Blu-ray set contains the film and extras on the first disc and then a digital copy of the film on the second disc. In terms of quality, Babylon AD looks and sounds great, as you would expect from a Blu-ray release of a new film. There are a variety of backgrounds and lighting in Babylon AD, and the Blu-ray release does a superb job of presenting those. The 5.1 Surround was also pleasing and I have no real complaints.
For extras, there are several; they include all of the DVD extras plus BonusView features:
BonusView – BonusView may very well become the equivalent of Universal’s U-Control feature on Blu-ray. On this Fox release, BonusView provides two neat extras in the form of Picture-In-Picture (PIP) footage as well as seven promo spots of things from the movie. The PIP feature includes seventeen instances of additional footage that plays as you watch the film; these are made up of bits of production footage that run anywhere from one to five minutes in length. The seven promo spots are less interesting and are just short commercials, basically, for miscellaneous things seen in the film.
-Deleted Scene – A two and a half minute HD chase/action sequence with Vin Diesel at the wheel of a Hummer is included. It’s a fairly exciting scene that was well done, I was surprised it wasn’t included in the film.
-Image Gallery – Well over thirty images or stills from the film; oddly enough I didn’t see any that were production photos, just literally stills of the film itself.
-Babylon Babies – This is an eleven minute feature is in HD, and includes the author of the book “Babylon Babies” talking about his novel that he wrote some twelve years ago, the creation of the film, the characters, the plot, and so forth. He speaks in French so subtitles are provided and while he’s talking there is a lot of behind the scenes or production footage shown.
-Arctic Escape – Another eleven minute feature in HD, this one includes an interview with Bob Brown, a stunt coordinator. He breaks down the idea, evolution, and execution of the snowmobiles getaway scene, including how he discovered the Slednecks, a team of daring snowmobile drivers. Plenty of production footage included.
-Fit For the Screen – A seven minute feature in HD, this one includes Stunt Coordinator Bob Brown again talking about the bar fight scene where Toorop has to fight his way out of a cage fight. A brief Vin Diesel interview is included and more production footage of this scene.
-Flight of the Hummers – An eight minute feature in HD with Kenny Bates, another Stunt Coordinator, talking about the Hummer chase sequence; production footage included.
-Prequel To Babylon AD: Genesis of Aurora – This is a fairly interesting five minute HD animated short about Aurora.
And with that, let’s wrap up…