Metacritic Film

Babylon A.D.

Starring Vin Diesel, Mélanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh, Lambert Wilson, Mark Strong, Jérôme Le Banner, Charlotte Rampling, and Joel Kirby

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language and some sexuality

20th Century Fox
Action  |  Adventure  |  Sci-fi  |  Suspense/Thriller
90 minutes | Color
USA | France
Released In Theaters August 29, 2008

It is the not-too-distant future, a hardened mercenary known only as Toorop lives by a simple survivor's code: kill...or be killed. His latest assignment has him smuggling a young woman named Aurora from a convent in Kazakhstan to New York City. Toorop, his new young charge Aurora and Aurora's guardian Sister Rebeka embark on a 6,000 mile journey. Facing obstacles at every turn, Toorop, the killer for hire, is tested like never before, in ways he could never have imagined - as he comes to understand that he is the custodian of the only hope for the future of mankind. For the first time in his life, Toorop has to make a choice: to make a difference or walk away and save himself. Too bad it came on the day he died. (20th Century Fox)

WRITTEN BY
Maurice G. Dantec (novel)
Eric Besnard
Mathieu Kassovitz
Joseph Simas

DIRECTED BY
Mathieu Kassovitz

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

26 / 100

Critic Reviews

63 TV Guide Staff (Not credited)
Rich with atmosphere but too similar to films ranging from "Children of Men" to "Doomsday" to carve out its own distinctive niche.
50 LA Weekly Vadim Rizov
If nothing else, it's nice to see an action movie that takes Europe, not America, as its grounding point.
40 Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona
This is not a terrible movie, but it's too familiar by half and too confusing by a third.
40 Variety Jordan Mintzer
A noisier, costlier version of "Children of Men," yet lacking that film's social-political significance and jaw-dropping direction.
40 Empire James Dyer
Brawny but brainless techno-twaddle.
38 ReelViews
The lackluster acting and horrendous dialogue don't help.
38 The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason Anderson
The storyline is a sinkhole that swallows up any sense and suspense.
33 Entertainment Weekly Adam Markovitz
When martial arts star Michelle Yeoh shows up as a pious, butt-kicking nun, you have to wonder if Kassovitz isn't accidentally cribbing from Mel Brooks, too.
33 The Onion (A.V. Club)
As long it sticks to that chase, Babylon A.D. remains a sub-passable lead-footed action film with neat scenery.
30 Austin Chronicle
It's not a great action dust-up by any means.
25 Boston Globe Tom Russo
When this Vin Diesel vehicle isn't pointlessly frenzied, it's narratively inert, wasting some decent production design, and a French-flavored cast primed for fun.
20 Film Threat Felix Vasques Jr.
Wants to be three different films at one time but sadly never asks much from Diesel other than to grunt, stomp around, and reprise the role that made him a star.
20 The New York Times
Our judgments, in any case, may be superfluous, since the director, Mathieu Kassovitz, has already publicly described it as "pure violence and stupidity."
20 New York Daily News
The plot makes absolutely no sense.
10 The Hollywood Reporter
A towering heap of nihilistic nonsense that plays like a cornball "Children of God."

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