9 Sep 2008

Babylon A.D.

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz

Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry

Release: 2008-09-09

Almost every American critic slammed this. We at Fridae agree that it's bad but it's not that baaad. In fact, if you have a thing for dumb B-grade sci-fi movies, then you might just enjoy this.

Based on the sci-fi novel Babylon Babies, the story is set in a futuristic society where Vin Diesel works as a mercenary soldier. When a Russian gangster (Gerard Depardieu) asks him to transport a young woman (Melanie Thierry) from a convent in Kazakhstan to New York City, he quickly agrees. But little does he know that the woman is scientifically-engineered creature who carries a deadly virus within her body...

The story gets increasingly weird and spacey with every turn, and with the haphazard actions sequences and poor direction by Mathieu Kassovitz, Babylon A.D. leaves you hankering for The Fifth Element, Dune, Blade Runner and all the other seminal sci-fi films that this one copied.

But like we said, if you're a sci-fi junkie who easily forgives B-grade production values in exchange for a sneak peek into futuristic worlds, you may not mind this. Plus, there's Michelle Yeoh playing a butt-kicking nun.