Babylon A.D. (DVD)

...~

Babylon AD has been out for a while now but I finally had chance to watch it last night. I heard it had a mixture of reviews mostly bad, but I always like to experience films myself as I may find it good. I didn’t know anything about the film before I watched it, all I knew is that Vin Diesel was in it and that was good enough for me lol. Most of his films are pretty similar but ive always thought he was a really good actor. Another ...
...
A downfall of Babylon is the character developments. We only really get to know abit about Toorop and not a lot about the rest. Aurora’s life is briefly explained by the sister about how she came into her care but I didn’t get the feeling it showed what they were like so you could feel involved with them.
The character of Torrop is good. The change in his personality is nicely done but I felt there could have been abit more done with ... more

~ Protecting The Miracle ~

Babylon AD has been out for a while now but I finally had chance to watch it last night. I heard it had a mixture of reviews mostly bad, but I always like to experience films myself as I may find it good. I didn’t know anything about the film before I watched it, all I knew is that Vin Diesel was in it and that was good enough for me lol. Most of his films are pretty similar but ive always thought he was a really good actor. Another element that did draw me into hiring out the film was the director Mattieu Kassovitz, who I will talk about in a moment but I really like some of his previous work. It is an action / adventure film which is my favourite genre and it looked like it had some good special effects in which I always like to see in an action film.

~ INFO ~

Director- Mattieu Kassovitz.

Mattieu Kassovitz is very interesting as he is a bigger actor than director but has still directed a few hits. I found him interesting and think he is very talented by being successful at both. A few other films he has directed include- ‘Gothika’ 2003 which was well known and ‘Assassins’ 1992.
Many of you may recognise his films more than his directing work as he has had star roles such as- Robert in ‘Munich’ 2002 and he ‘Assassins’ as well as directing it. Being a French director he has acted and directed many other French films as well. He is a very talented man who can produce, direct, act and write films, which is no surprise when I found out he has own 12 awards for his pieces and is in progress of directing and appearing in a new film this year.

Writers- Eric Besnard and Maurice G Dantec – both have written several French movies.
Produced- Mathieu Kassovitz and Alain Goldman.
Music- Hans Zimmer and Atli Oravarsson
Release Date- 29 August 2008 (UK)
Runtime- 101 Mins
Certificate- 12A

~ PLOT ~

We are located in Russia sometime in the future and the cities have been turned into dangerous slums because of gang wars and terrorism. There are violent and disturbed people who do as they wish while roaming the streets. No where is safe. Bombs hit anywhere at anytime, people fire upon who they wish and many people are struggling to stay alive from mobsters and malicious men. Toorop who is our main protagonist accepts a job of protecting and delivering a young girl to American where he plans a new life away from this madness. They have to travel across these torturous Russian cities with constant life threatening events. Toorop is specialised in killing and has a lot of fire power but finds out soon after they set off that everyone is after this young girl. Gangs follow them and many try to steal her. Finding out she is special he finds a new objective in his mission.

~ Main Characters ~

Vin Diesel – Toorop
Toorop is a hard-core mercenary who has been trained to kill and fight well. He likes to be by himself and has a lonely, violent life. The character is strong, cold heartened and lost until he finds this new objective where I could see him change. He looks like he has had a hard life with his tattoos, scars and slashes across his body but he still remains focused when his life is in danger.
- Other films include Fast and the Furious and Riddick.

Melanie Thierry- Aurora
Aurora is a unique girl who has been kept at a female refuge since she was born. She has not seen the real world until she has to cross Russia to seek medical help in America. She seems confused, upset and troubled by this violent world outside her Covent. She seems to have a special connection with Toorop who dismisses her.
The French actress has been involved in several French productions but made her debut in this in Hollywood.

Michelle Yeoh- Sister Rebeka
She has looked after Aurora has her own since birth and defends her as they travel with Toorop. She is strong, clever and a very good fighter. She protects Aurora with her life and has a hard time trusting anyone.
Michelle Yeoh is a very successful actress and has featured in some major hits including- ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ 2005, ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ 2000 and ‘Tomorrow never dies’ 1997.

Other Characters

Lambert Wilson- Dr Arthur Darquandier (Aurora’s father)
Mark Strong- Finn
Gerard Depardieu – Gorsky
Charlotte Rampling- Noelite High Priestess

~ OPINIONS ~

Visual and Effects

The best thing I thought about the film was the special effects and visual Mise en scene of each location. The scenery for the ruined world is done very well. It looks terrifying and dangerous. I really felt that it looked like a sort of Hell, violence and death everywhere and no where being safe. The cities looked destroyed and the atmosphere of the place was dismal and bleak. I loved the way all of the buildings were ruined with bullets holes, rocket shells everywhere and it did look like slums. Toorop is seen in an ‘apartment’ if you can call it that, it is locked by a padlock, made of thin metal sheets and has gaps and holes everywhere.
I thought it was convincing and added immensely to the cold hearted and violent towns. There were just unpredictable situations everywhere. People firing when they wanted, people fighting, stealing and all this really gave me a horrid thought of how War can disrupt the world.
One scene that I thought was particularly hard hitting was a scene where they are catching a sub marine. People are trying to escape Russia and cues of people have to fight for places to get out. People are pushing and climbing up this huge sub to get inside. After it is filled, the soldier fire upon those who will not get off. It is a harsh way, as they can only take a number of people each time and the men onboard don’t seem to care shooting children and anyone in sight. The world has a dark vision of a future ruled by death and terrorism. There were really good slow motion parts where aurora watches a rocket skim past her, I liked this a lot and it showed how close death is to her.
The violence was not seen too gory, since the film is rated a 12A they obviously were limited to what they could show. I didn’t see why they didn’t make it a fifteen and added abit more gore in. There is also a slight sexual tension between Aurora and Toorop shown but it doesn’t go anywhere.

Narrative and Characters

Another element of the film I liked was the story line. It had a great main story and kept it going at a fast pace. There were a few confusing parts where you really have to listen to get what is going on. Understanding what Aurora is and why she is special is particularly annoying to follow but I did like the idea. I also really liked the ending which I will not explain for those who have not seen it.
A downfall of Babylon is the character developments. We only really get to know abit about Toorop and not a lot about the rest. Aurora’s life is briefly explained by the sister about how she came into her care but I didn’t get the feeling it showed what they were like so you could feel involved with them.
The character of Torrop is good. The change in his personality is nicely done but I felt there could have been abit more done with a successful actor such as Vin Diesel. Even though he mainly plays the same type of characters in all his films and still think he does them well and when he shows a more human side of him it is well filmed.
All of the other characters acted fine, the young Aurora was a good character and I thought she was thought of well. I liked the connection built between Aurora and Toorop even though it is pretty predictable.

Themes and Filming

The film did include a range of exciting elements which made up a good action / thriller. It included good car chases, great fighting hand to hand combat and a lot of fire power. There were many gadgets used obviously all the different guns, but also transport was varied and there was a wide range of fights in different locations.
The filming included a lot of fast cuts and close ups to keep up with the fighting and action. The views of the hand to hand combat fights were especially good, you feel really involved with what is going on. I didn’t think it was over the top and there were some very unique establishing shots. The cold scenery of Russian slums and the beautiful woods of Canada.
The locations are greatly varied. Depressing cities, deserted ice lands, and manic streets of New York. These are seen in the filming locations below.
Filming Locations- Prague, Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway and France.

Overall

I quite liked the film even though it has some really bad reviews. The film has a rating from Rotten Tomatoes of only 7% which I think is pretty unfair. Most are saying it is badly put together. Even though there are flaws and some things could have been done better it does have a good story and plenty of action to keep you interested. I didn’t think the acting was as bad as people are saying too. I would recommend it if you like these action packed thrillers like The Matrix and Blade Runner. It has similarities to all these and also The Fifth Element. It includes a harsh reality of the future if terrorism takes over and some great locations and fights. I would say to rent the film first rather than buy it.

Availability

The DVD can be brought from play.com at £6.99 which includes a special feature of all the artwork done for the film. You can also buy the DVD on the movies official website.

Soundtrack- The soundtrack can also be brought or downloaded for around £12.99.

Website- http://www.babylonadmovie.com/

~ Thanks for reading- blackmagicstar4 March 09
On Dooyoo and Ciao ~

 

...less