Babylon AD

Despite his looks begging to differ, to me Vin Diesel is a man of great mystery. Following in the footsteps of classic action stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, Diesel seems to be one of these actors who commands an enormous salary even though he can’t act and many of his films are box office flops.

But despite his lack of acting credibility, he has certainly carved out a niche for himself and his role of Toorop, the world weary mercenary lead in Babylon AD, fits into it perfectly. 

Toorop is persuaded to complete the seemingly simple mission of transporting a mysterious and beautiful orphan, Aurora (Melanie Thierry), from a convent in Russia to New York. But this being a Hollywood action film, things become complicated and it soon becomes clear that Aurora is in fact carrying something that means an awful lot to a great deal of people. Assisted by her guardian Sister Rebekah, Toorop shoots and shouts his way across Russia and into New York.

As Babylon AD was being released, its director, Mathieu Kassovitz, gave a scathing attack on his film, claiming that the studio had not allowed him to release the edit he had wanted and that the piece now resembled “a bad episode of 24.” And it is easy to see why he may have been keen to distance himself from this scrambled and messy picture. Although we know that our leads are heading west, we don’t find out exactly why until about 10 minutes from the end. We know there is something special about Aurora but again, by the time the audience finds out what that something is, we have lost interest.

And that is another of the film’s fatal flaws; we are never made to care about any of the characters. The film invests no time in developing a personality for Toorop, apart from a half hearted attempt when we learn that he can cook and that he wants to return to his parents’ ranch when he gets to America. Michelle Yeoh’s Sister Rebekah may as well have not been written into the script and Thierry was clearly cast for her angelic looks rather than her skills as an actress. While defiantly mysterious, Aurora is also rather dull and viewers will find it very hard to mind whether she lives or dies.

Organized religion is another victim of poor screen writing. The leader of the convent where Aurora was raised is portrayed as a cold and calculating woman known as “Your Highness” who is desperately after what Aurora is carrying to make her sect “a main stream” religion for her own profitable gain. But while the film is clearly trying to make a point about religion, there is no spirituality to this film at all. This is most highlighted during the “resurrection” scene. There seems to be not even a hint of irony that during a film that has religion as a main theme, a character is brought back to life with not even a nod to Christianity.

So despite his ranking as Hollywood’s current leading action star, it appears that Vin Diesel has once again got himself involved in a rambling, badly written and dull excuse for a movie that even its own director wants nothing to do with. But if Mr. Schwarzenegger can turn things around and become Governor of California then maybe Vin should think of a career change too. Mr. Diesel for President, anyone?

Charlotte Bateson-Hill



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