“Babylon A.D.” is a thrilling sci-fi movie in the spirit of “The Fifth Element” and “Johnny Mnemonic”. This is an exciting and complicated sci-fi film and it is littered with some splendid action scenes. This movie is very underrated and that’s a real shame.

Set in a dystopian 2058, Vin Diesel (“xXx”, “Pitch Black”) stars as a mercenary by the name of Toorop, who gets hired to escort a girl (Mélanie Thierry “A Perfect Day”) and her guardian (Michelle Yeoh “Sunshine”, “Tomorrow Never Dies”) from Russia to America. Little does Toorop know that the girl he is escorting is at the heart of a sinister cult’s plot.

Vin Diesel is far from being a good actor but he’s picked a role where he isn’t required to do much besides look and sound tough so he works fine here. Michelle Yeoh is good as Sister Rebeka. Mélanie Thierry does a good job as Aurora and the character becomes increasingly interesting as the film continues. The interactions between the three main characters were okay but nothing special. I felt that the villains of the movie didn’t get enough screen time but it is probably because the movie waits quite a while before revealing them for the last act.

The world that “Babylon A.D.” creates is certainly ugly but somewhat plausible. I like movies such as “Blade Runner” and “Minority Report” that create detailed visions of the future so that’s probably why enjoyed this movie a lot. The action sequences are impressive and I particularly enjoyed the snowmobile scene. The final act does seem to hit you with quite a lot and I think that presents some problems but I also think some of the big revelations are clever and very intriguing. This movie was heavily criticised by the majority of critics and a lot of other people don’t care for it, I guess maybe the movie is too smart for fans of Vin Diesel’s “xXx” and “The Fast and the Furious” but too action-packed for fans of slower movies such as “Blade Runner”. I enjoyed it anyway.