I’m thinking for fun, maybe I should be do a ‘post apocalyptic’ themed month. Sounds good? Alright, here is the first movie; “Babylon A.D” (2008). It’s classified as a sci-fi action. Now just based on the title one can guess it has a bit of religious meaning. Let’s take a closer look.
The storyline follows a mercenary named Toorop who agrees to a decent paying job from a greasy Russian mobster guy named Gorsky. The movie is definitely set in the future but not too far from present day. Toorop’s mission is to bring a young girl named Aurora to New York City. The task will not be easy, the world is pretty much overrun by anarchy and getting to New York without proper ID will also be a problem. So, the adventure begins with Toorop swinging by some sort of temple commune, outside waiting is Sister Rebeka and Aurora. Sister Rebeka is along for the ride to make sure Aurora is safe and gets delivered to her destination which she makes clear. Toorop soon realizes that Aurora is more special than she appears to be. Sister Rebeka explains that she can speak many languages and seems to know things that she has never learned. The climax reaches while in Harlem. Some bombings occur and a news report confirms that there is a lot more going on here than they know both know. Groups called the Noelites have become a cult religion which many are flocking too. It is then revealed that the virgin Aurora is pregnant and will birth twins that are genetically modified for the cult. While held up in the hotel room Toorup sees both groups; Noelites and Gorski's men waiting. A fight breaks out; Toorup tries to take hold of the situation but fails. Sister Rebeka is shot dead and a missile is fired. Aurora tells him to go home just before the missile blows up and Toorop is hit badly with shrapnel. Hours later, Toorop wakes up and is in the care of Dr. Darquandier who explains he was brought back to life and his leg and arm replaced with cybernetics. The doctor also explains that he is Aurora’s father gives him the story that when Aurora was a fetus he enhanced her using a supercomputer but that the Russian mobster Gorski had run interference and stole her away. He then helps him remember the last events leading up to ‘blacking out’. Toorop goes back to where his home is and is surprised to see Aurora there. He then takes her to the hospital where she has the babies but soon after dies. Toorop is then left to take care of the newborns.
The movie stars Vin Diesel as Toorop. Not a big fan of his stuff, some of his movies are good but he plays the same tough guy role with no variance. Gorski was played by Gerard Depardieu which I though was a surprising role for him. Well done. Overall acting was acceptable, a few unknowns to me. The storyline was good, it needed some more back stories and explanations though. The pace seemed too quick for what was trying to be achieved. As for effects, nothing really stood out. You could tell it was the future but nothing with WOW factor.
So while this movie was able to satisfy my appetite, it failed to fill me up. I’m on the fence on this one. I’m intrigued by the premise of the story, just wished it was told better. I understand that there is a book to this and so now I’m thinking of reading it. I’ll keep you posted. I wanted so much more for this movie but sadly it let me down, I rate it 5.5/10 but note it was a good effort.
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