Just What We Need: Less Vin Diesel

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 10, 2008

For whatever reason, we haven’t been covering Mathieu Kassovitz’s science fiction saga Babylon A.D. very closely on the site. Maybe it was the presence of Vin Diesel.

Apparently, we’re going to see less of him. Unfortunately, that’s because what was being billed as an epic is now cut down to ninety minutes – like a “Fun Size” version – according to Twitch Film.

Kassovitz is the mind behind The Crimson Rivers and Gothika, a triple-threat writer/director/actor. His Babylon A.D. is the story of a mercenary who transports a woman to China who’s host to an organism sought after by a cult so they can manufacture a messiah.

If the story doesn’t sound rad enough, the cast does. The Diesel is headlining, but he’s backed up by Michelle Yeoh, French acting icon Gerard Depardieu, and Lambert Wilson.

Who knows? This shorter version may be a blessing in disguise. I’ve seen French directors take on action time and time again and ruin it with character development and plots instead more explosions and combination flame thrower-grenade launchers. Let’s hope that the time they cut from the film was exposition instead of destruction.

Read more articles by Dr. Cole Abaius