Babylon A.D. 2008

Critics score:
6 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Michael Ordona, Los Angeles Times: Babylon feels like an almost random pastiche of good and bad. There may be a deadly virus, or genetic engineering, or a virgin birth, or some combination of all, it's not clear. Read more

Ben Lyons, At the Movies: I unfortunately had a seat that faced the screen and I have two hours of my life that I will never get back. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The only explicable thing about Babylon A.D. is that it was not screened in advance for critics. Read more

Cliff Doerksen, Chicago Reader: A must-see only for fans of snowmobile chases. Read more

Jason Anderson, Globe and Mail: 'I'm very unhappy with the film,' the director recently told an online magazine. Join the club. Read more

Ruth Hessey, MovieTime, ABC Radio National: With his face like a squashed doughnut, and physique like the tyres of a huge truck, Diesel just doesn't inhabit the same planet as Rampling or even Kassovitz himself. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: Even if it never finds an audience outside L.A., someone ought to write a book called When Dull Films Happen To Clever Production Designers. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: 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. Read more

Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly: Babylon's plot is a lumpy mixture of The Fifth Element and Children of Men, while its dystopian future references Blade Runner, Dune, and The Matrix. Read more

Vadim Rizov, L.A. Weekly: Without whatever strident critique Kassovitz intends, it's a typical B action movie -- the inevitable pseudo-warm bonding scenes deadly, the fights largely incoherent -- with the occasional pleasing set-piece. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: An abysmal French thriller in which everyone -- Diesel included -- speaks as if they've learned their lines phonetically. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The movie has a nice look -- gray, rusted metal exposed to Siberian and Bering Strait snow. What it lacks is coherence and a compelling reason for us to take this often-abrupt journey with Aurora, Toorop and Sister Rebeka. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: This is a case of a potentially epic tale being pruned and diced to the point where its underlying ideas are reduced to trite cliches. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: Unfortunately, a 'Matrix'-style shoot-out offers a glib, violent solution to what is otherwise an intriguing emotional conflict. Read more

Jordan Mintzer, Variety: A noisier, costlier version of Children of Men, yet lacking that film's social-political significance and jaw-dropping direction. Read more