STRICTLY OBSERVING: Dissing Diesel

By ZACH COOLEY
I enjoyed spending the Labor Day holiday with my friend Shane as we continued our Monday tradition of dining at Ruby Tuesday’s and catching a movie at the Marquee Cinemas.  That particular day, we saw the new Vin Diesel science fiction film, Babylon A.D., which opened there the previous Friday.  During its opening weekend at the Wytheville theater, Babylon A.D. was greeted with a promotional event, which featured representatives from such area businesses as Game Stop, March of Dimes, Wythe County Public Library, All God’s Creatures Animal Sanctuary and the Bird Sanctuary.  Face painting, games, prizes and several other elements of family fun were also featured.
Set in the not too distant future, Babylon A.D. is based on the novel Babylon Babies by Maurice Georges Dantec.  The Mathieu Kassovitz film features Diesel as Toorop, a mercenary who is assigned to escort a young woman named Aurora (Melanie Thierry) from Eastern Europe to New York.  On what, at first, seems to be an ordinary mission, Toorop gradually discovers that his guest has been genetically altered and is pregnant with twins who have the potential to become the dawn of a new religion.  It is then Toorop’s decision to either risk his own life to protect this woman and her unborn children from the hysterical inhabitants of an apocalyptic world or save himself and risk a future of never ending worldwide chaos. 
While I have enjoyed most of the films in which Vin Diesel has starred over the years, I have to say that he all but hit rock bottom when he accepted this role.  There was something disturbing to me about this film that lingered from its opening scene to the end credits.  I can understand the point that Dantec might have been trying to make in his original novel.  That point might and ought to have been an attempt to educate viewers on how the worship of such false idols as money, power and politics is slowly but surely ruining our very existence. 
If that was the original intent of screenwriter Eric Besnard, it is my opinion that his goal was obliterated by the time Babylon A.D. hit the big screen.  Instead, the approximate 90-minute film was occupied by a ruthless shootout and violence that would ordinarily be regarded as irrelevant to the plot.  I can’t really say that for this film, as an actual plot would be necessary to make that claim.
Had Shane and I known enough about the content of Babylon A.D., I’m quite sure we would have concurrently opted to see something else instead.  While I know next to nothing about the obscure comedy College, which opened alongside Babylon A.D. at the Marquee on Aug. 30, I think it’s pretty safe to assume we couldn’t have been further disappointed.  The whole idea of genetically altered humans created by computers rather than God left me with a feeling of distress extreme uneasiness that I simply could not shake.  The idea of religions being derived from such elements as cloning and politics didn’t help.  The film might have been salvaged had these ideals been disproved by its end.  However, not only did this not occur, but Babylon A.D. didn’t appear to have a clear, definitive ending at all.  Babylon A.D. was a definite disappointment from an actor who typically delivers a much better performance in significantly higher quality films.
While I can’t recommend Babylon A.D., there are always a number of other films worth seeing at the Marquee Cinemas.  I have recently really enjoyed such blockbuster epics as The Dark Knight and The Mummy as well as such 3-D films as Journey to the Center of the Earth.  I have always received excellent service from the management and staff there.  I particularly want to thank James Newman and Joy Carrico for their continued kindness and accommodations as well as the opportunity to bring you these reviews from time to time.
A graduate of Wytheville Community College, Zach Cooley lives in Wytheville. Contact him at .