Immaculate Obsession

In a unique moment for Vin Diesel, he has found a movie with an engaging plot. Now, that’s not to say the plot is perfect, and I could spend this entire review picking at the semi-truck sized holes in the plot, but that would be entirely critique, and no review.

So, what did Bablyon AD do right? Well, French director Matthieu Kassovitz’s screen adaptation of an archetypal badass’ (Vin Diesel) quest to smuggle a girl with mysterious powers into archetypal post-apocalyptic future America is definitely not a story for anyone expecting a change to formula. By which I mean the post-apocalyptic badass formula. Since this formula is a first for this blog, let’s go over the pieces.

Post-apocalyptic future world + antihero-esque badass + world-dominating corporation (+ some other interchangeable elements, depending on style) = Kick Ass Movie

This formula has served Hollywood (and quite a few SciFi authors) well for years, and doesn’t seem to be in any great hurry to change. With that in mind, let’s see how “Babylon AD” handles the formula.

Piece one: Post-apocalyptic future world? Check. This is in fact where “Babylon AD” has some of its moments of shine, because the world it creates is believable. Kind of. I can easily see the economy degrading to the point where people are forced to buy things freshly hunted by other people (because the grocery stores are reserved for the elite and such), and where serving favors for the rich is all that’s really available for steady work, because there are parts of society like that now. The world of “Babylon AD” does have some cool future tech that serves as glitter on the sides, but other than the Big Brother complete surveillance, nothing definite. Overall, the world is real and stimulating.

Piece two: Vin Diesel. I said earlier antihero-esque, because he ends up on the side of something that is obviously good and warm and mushy, rather than being a free spirit throughout. Diesel plays a good character, though, and despite having a character name I wasn’t sure of until the end credits, he’s a convincing badass. You might say he’s always a convincing badass, and “what else is new?”, but he smiles more in this movie. That’s important. With most of his earlier roles, especially the Riddick series, he had the badass plastered over his face the entire time. The smile gives him an element of “I’m actually above all you little people” that works. Its as though he’s saying “you’re amusing, and I’m not annoyed enough to kill you yet” to everyone. Its a relief from his normality. Subtle differences are everything.

Piece three: The overlord corporation. I’m sorry, but whatever my personal beliefs, I don’t see a religious organization making any serious world power plays in the next fifty years. There’s just too much going against them. Also, religion as the bad guy is a little overplayed, so when it turns out the future-version of Christianity is trying to hunt down Vin Diesel and his ‘package’, I inwardly groaned. Seeing technological upgrades as a religion (as shown through the “we’re trying to kill you, oops we’re trying to save you” organization that saves Vin Diesel) is refreshing, and adds another bit of shine to Babylon AD.

Let’s finish up with a final quick comment about the plot. The first half was fine. Normal formula stuff, Diesel doing his thing, save the weird girl, be a badass, etc. The problem? Who is this girl, why can she stop missiles? Oh. The unborn kids have mystical powers to save her from missiles, but the mother dies in childbirth? Oh, alright then. Doesn’t Vin Diesel make a great surrogate father? End.