Show I i Babylon AD A.D. Unoriginal futuristic failure Diana Joy Jones Arts Reporter Babylon AD A.D. exhibits a futuristic nightmare in which the world is torn tom apart by chaos and terrorists and mercenaries rule the day One of those mercenaries Vin Diesel is hired to transport fragile cargo in inthe inthe inthe the form of a young woman Aurora M Melanie lanie Thierry from Russia to New York City Promised a legitimate passport is intent to fulfill his duties and live free in his hometown of New York Sheltered in ina a convent her entire life Aurora is escorted by her protective caretaker Sister Rebeka Michelle runs into constant snags as it is revealed that Aurora is being pursued by several groups It seems as though the the pale-faced pale seemingly harmless cargo may in fact carry a deadly and highly sought after virus VIruS desire to remain unattached to Aurora and her protective mother figure in their travels is constantly undermined as they encounter one life- life threatening situation after another In one scene he is entangled in a cage fight at ata ata ata a shady nightclub in Russia Another has him attempting to defend the group from froman an attack on a snowy mountainside There is likeness present in Babylon AD A.D. that mirrors other films such as Blade Runner and Resident Evil Its weakness though is that it feels like an underdeveloped underdeveloped underdeveloped under under- developed offspring of so many Fi action films that have come before it The Island of Manhattan is visually a grown up version of Blade Runners advanced city and glitters in neon glory The picture this film paints of the future may have little innovation but there is some worthwhile cinematic eye Fire blazes and engulfs the screen Bullets are magnified and followed on slow motion journeys The skyscrapers intimidate the city below with bright lights and odd shapes as they reach stark heights Die Diesel el gives a stoic performance and delivers his lines in a mechanical mann manner r. r Rarely does he raise the pitch of his voice His characters character's reaction to being faced with the barrel of a gun is similar to anyone else's reaction to being stuck in a traffic jam He doesn't quite seem to understand that a pair of modem modern sunglasses is not an adequate up cover-up for a alack alack alack lack of acting skill To cut Diesel some slack he isn't given any new material to stretch with within in Babylon AD A.D. Diesels Diesel's strongly built gun toting heroes do have a place onscreen onscreen onscreen on on- screen his past blockbusters have proven so In any event the cliche presented here d does es tend to wear on the nerves after a while The straight-faced straight bad guy with witha a heart Diesel portrays is certainly not for everyone as his stock portrayal of an unenthusiastic hero anti-hero does not help sell this thinly displayed story As far as story goes its it's not awful but it does leave something to be bc desired The plot moves forward sometimes without clueing the audience in as to where exactly its it's going Aurora and personal stories storie are almost ignored at times This causes some of the characters' characters behaviors and transitions to feel fuzzy and unexplained The screenplay is based on a novel by Maurice G. G Dantec entitled Babylon Babies Lets Let's hope the book tells a more coherent story than this film as Babylon AD A.D. leaves some loose ends behind Luckily this movie is not so confusing that it isn't just enough to befuddle audiences as to the focal point of the onscreen onscreen onscreen on on- screen narrative is ultimately a second-rate second vehicle If audiences dont don't expect more than a rough ride with occasional pleasures along the way they may not be too disappointed Babylon AD A.D. is 13 for violence profanity and some brief sexual themes 1 I e eI I i J JJ f 4 to t 0 A I f a J 0 E S F A AO A |