Follow @screenit

"BABYLON A.D." (2008) (Vin Diesel, Melanie Thierry) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Moderate Extreme *Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate Minor Heavy *None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild Mild Mild Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action: A mercenary tries to transport a nun and the young woman in her care to America, quickly learning that something she's carrying is of big interest to various parties. PLOT: It's the near future and Toorop (VIN DIESEL) is former soldier turned mercenary who will do most anything for pay if the price is right. His reputation is what's caused his former boss, Gorsky (GERARD DEPARDIEU), to hire him to transport a young woman, Aurora (MELANIE THIERRY), and the nun caring for her, Sister Rebecca (MICHELLE YEOH), from Eastern Europe to America. Aurora doesn't seem to be particularly interesting, but when various forces working for the likes of scientist Darquandier (LAMBERT WILSON) and Neolite High Priestess (CHARLOTTE RAMPLING) separately via for control of the young woman, Toorop realizes there's more to her than meets the eye. Enlisting the aide of his associate, Finn (MARK STRONG), to help them cross various borders, the mercenary then does what he can to deliver the two women, all while batting various people with a vested interest in what Aurora's carrying. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of someone in the cast. Otherwise, adolescent males seem like the next most likely group that might be interested in it. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For intense sequences of violence and action, language and some sexuality. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: VIN DIESEL plays a soldier turned mercenary who's hired to transport Aurora to America. A heavily tattooed tough guy who prefers not to get emotionally involved with his work, he kills and fights with various people, briefly smokes, briefly drinks, and uses profanity, some of it briefly strong. MELANIE THIERRY plays that young woman who's grown up in a monastery but carries twins despite never having been around a man. Accordingly, many people are interested in her, and she has the ability to feel others' pain and anticipate bad things. She fights with some people and briefly drinks. MICHELLE YEOH plays the convent nun and personal protector who accompanies her and Toorop, and fights various people to try to protect Aurora. She briefly drinks. LAMBERT WILSON plays Aurora's scientist father who's worked to install artificial intelligence into fetuses and thus has been drummed out of the medical profession. He's sent his men to bring Aurora back to him. MARK STRONG plays Toorop's associate who helps smuggle the unlikely trio across the border, but is opportunistic. He uses some profanity. CHARLOTTE RAMPLING plays the High Neolite Priestess and mother to Aurora who wants the girl for religious purposes. She kills and is responsible for the deaths of others. GERARD DEPARDIEU plays the unsavory mercenary who hires Toorop for the transport job. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a quick look at the content found in this action film that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Brief sexually related dialogue is present, as is the sight of a man in just a towel who nearly kisses a young woman in a top and panties, but they're interrupted before anything else happens. Violence consists of deaths by various means (gunfire, explosions, a fight to the death in a cage fight match, etc.) as well as all sorts of fighting (martial arts, regular punching, etc.). While there are some bloody results, it's not enough to push the film into R-rated territory. It's possible that material and moments of potential peril might be unsettling to some viewers, while the fighting, stunts and other behavior might be enticing for some kids to imitate. All sorts of bad attitudes are present, and characters drink and/or smoke. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, varying amounts of handheld camerawork and -- late in the film -- some partial spin-around camera shots are seen in the pic. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Toorop has wine with his meal. Toorop finds a vodka bottle in a car. Finn and Toorop each drink a shot of liquor. Toorop drinks from a flask, saying it's a painkiller. He offers some to Sister Rebecca, but she declines. Aurora, however, grabs the flask and takes a swig (saying "Yuck!" to the taste). After Aurora then says they're all going to die, Sister Rebecca takes a swig from the flask, and Toorop drinks some more. Darquandier has wine. BLOOD/GORE Toorop cuts off the head of a dead animal (it might have been a cat) that he then cooks up into a meal. We see a dead dog strung up by its neck in a foreign market. A cage fighter is bloody during and following a bout, and while fighting Toorop, having blood from his mouth and nose. Toorop has a few bloody scrapes following fighting others. We briefly see blood as some people are shot off a surfaced sub. We see several dead and bloody polar bears out on the frozen tundra. Aurora has Toorop's blood on her hands as she puts them into a bloody wound on Toorop's side and removes a bloody piece of shrapnel from him. Sister Rebecca has blood on her shirt and from her mouth after she's shot. We see a memory flashback to Toorop holding up his hands that are bloody. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE All of those after Aurora and who kill others in relation to that obviously have bad attitudes. After Sister Rebecca says that one of her three rules is no foul language, Toorop tells her, "Don't f*ck with me" and adds that he'll leave her "with nothing but your ass to sell to get back home." We hear that Toorop is on the terrorist list in America, but we don't know why. Finn thinks Aurora might be carrying some sort of viral weapon. Toorop says if that's the case he'll kill her and burn her body. Aurora's father admits that he was drummed out of the medical profession for installing artificial intelligence into fetuses. The High Priestess holds a gun on Darquandier (her husband, although we don't know the status of their union) and then shoots him dead. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Machine guns/Missiles/Explosives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. Soldiers and guards carry various weapons (machine guns, handguns, etc.) in various scenes. Various scenes feature the sight of tanks. We see various weapons in Toorop's car and then on his body, although he has to give them up when wanded by guards. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Don't f*ck with me," "No sh*t," "Sh*t-hole," "You can't make me do sh*t," "Well, sh*t," "Oh sh*t," "Bullsh*t," "Balls" (testicles), "With nothing but your ass to sell to get back home," "What the hell /you think you're doing/was that/is going on?" "This G*ddamn global warming is bad for business" and "You selfish bastard." The stunts, fighting and action might be enticing for some kids to imitate. We see miscellaneous graffiti. Toorop has all sorts of tattoos, including a huge one on his back, all over his body. Toorop injects himself in the neck with a syringe of sorts (no needle is seen). JUMP SCENES Toorop's door suddenly explodes open. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of action-oriented, as well as some suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None that we heard, but a song has lyrics that we couldn't fully hear or understand, thus presenting the possibility of it potentially containing objectionable material. PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word, 9 "s" words, 4 hells, 1 ass and 1 use each of "G-damn" and "Jesus, Mary and Joseph." SEX/NUDITY After Sister Rebecca says that one of her three rules is no foul language, Toorop tells her, "Don't f*ck with me" and adds that he'll leave her "with nothing but your ass to sell to get back home." We see Toorop's bare back as he showers, and then see him wearing just a towel. Aurora then approaches, wearing a top and barely seen panties, and touches his bare chest. They nearly kiss, but Sister Rebecca walks in and nothing else happens. Aurora announces she's pregnant with twins. Sister Rebecca says that's impossible as she's been around her all of her life and no man has touched her, with Aurora confirming that. SMOKING Toorop smokes once and tries to do so again, but a car's cigarette lighter is missing, while some miscellaneous people also smoke. TENSE FAMILY SCENES After hearing that her father is alive, Aurora asks Sister Rebecca about this, but the latter says that Aurora's father is dead (that's what she thinks, but is wrong). The High Priestess holds a gun on Darquandier (her husband, although we don't know the status of their union) and then shoots him dead. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Toorop asking why save the planet. The notion of kill or be killed. Mercenaries. There's a comment on two tigers being clones since the real things went extinct in 2017. Toorop stating he trusts no one. There's a brief comment about global warming. All of the electronic ads seen in New York City. Filmmakers and novelists' view of the future. Aurora announces she's pregnant with twins. Sister Rebecca says that's impossible as she's been around her all of her life and no man has touched her, with Aurora confirming that. We see that Toorop has a prosthetic leg and arm following an explosion. Aurora's father admits that he was drummed out of the medical profession for installing artificial intelligence into fetuses. The High Priestess wanting Aurora to tie in the virgin conception "miracle" of her twins to her religion. VIOLENCE Toorop grabs a man, pushes others away, and then aims a handgun at that man, pulling the trigger, effectively proving his point about the defective weapon that man sold him. An explosion blasts open Toorop's door, with various men holding their guns on him. He knows one, grabs that man, pins him to the table, and then holds a weapon on him. After some brief talk, Toorop shoots that man dead (no blood). Some kids throw rocks at Toorop's car. Aurora panics in a crowd at a train station and flees. Toorop chases after her, knocking people down or aside to get to her. When he and Sister Rebecca do, a massive explosion rocks the station, heavily damaging it and killing or injuring many people (Toorop, Aurora and Sister Rebecca have to duck to avoid flying debris). We see some cage fighting where a large, bloodied man bashes and throws another about, seemingly killing his opponent at the end. Toorop throws money into the air to create confusion, and he, Sister Rebecca and Aurora then try to flee, with various people chasing after them inside a building. Toorop and Sister Rebecca fight various people with punches, kicks and such, while Aurora is grabbed by others, but manages to escape from them, but ends up in cage-fight enclosure with a large, bloodied fighter. Toorop then rushes in and tries to avoid that larger guy, but the two then fight, delivering brutal blows, while that fighter also occasionally misses, slamming his fist or body into the sides of the cage. Toorop eventually gets the man in a chokehold on the floor and apparently kills him (with Aurora screaming for him not to). Aurora escapes, Sister Rebecca strikes one man, and Darquandier's men then have Aurora, but Toorop fires a warning shot and then another into one man, wounding him, causing those men to give up Aurora. Sister Rebecca slaps Aurora after she yells at Toorop. Various people (including children) rush toward a Russian sob for transport, but some are trampled and others fall into the icy water surrounding the sub. Toorop knocks one person into that water, while a crewmember shoots several others (as they have too many passengers). One tries to shoot Toorop, but he grabs and yanks that man off the sub and down into the water. Inside, Aurora panics about all of the death, and thus grabs a handgun, points it at the crew (at least one aims a gun back at her) and demands that they take the rest of the people. Toorop then grabs and disarms Aurora who appears to be having a breakdown of sorts. As Toorop, Sister Rebecca, Aurora and Finn travel on snowmobiles across a vast, frozen tundra, man-less drone jets (assigned to guard the national border, and having already killed several polar bears - we only see the bloody carcasses) zip in, shooting missiles (resulting in explosions) and machine guns at the foursome. Toorop shoots one that explodes, and then causes the other to fly through a fiery explosion, catch on fire, and then crash. Another drone flies in, firing its machine guns, prompting Toorop to get his snowmobile airborne, crashing into the drone, causing a big explosion. We then see that Toorop is wounded, and Aurora has to remove some shrapnel from his side. Finn holds his gun on Sister Rebecca, but Toorop shoots him dead. Aurora reacts in horror to TV news that her former convent was struck by a missile and that everyone was killed (we see some brief footage of the ruins, but no bodies). Toorop pushes a suspicious doctor to a wall, wanting answers about Aurora. Toorop disarms a man and uses his gun to shoot several people, while Sister Rebecca grabs a gun from a "doctor" who points that at her. They then fire at various forces who shoot back at them with handguns and machine guns. A small missile is then fired that's locked on to a device in Toorop's neck. He races away, smashing a van's windshield to go through it and out the back, closing the doors into which the missile hits, blowing up the van. Toorop, Sister Rebecca and Aurora fight various guns with various blows, while Toorop shoots some of them as well. During this, Sister Rebecca is shot and bloodied, while Toorop is also hit, but shoots two more men. Another missile is fired that locks onto Toorop, but Aurora shoots him (saying she needs him to live) and he drops down just as the missile flies over and explodes in front of and all around Aurora, but she's unharmed (partially seen then, but seen in full when later replayed from a memory). We later see that Toorop was wounded by this. Toorop feels pain as he's brought to near death to play back memories formed when he was earlier in that same state. During a playback of Toorop's memories, we see the previous train station explosion, as well as various quick images of shooting and fighting. Gorsky is killed by a missile strike (suggested to be a nuke, although we don't know if that's true). The High Priestess holds a gun on Darquandier (her husband, although we don't know the status of their union) and then shoots him dead. Bad guys chase after a convoy that includes Toorop, Sister Rebecca and Aurora. One vehicle overturns in a tunnel and two more crash. Toorop then punches through the glass of one car and drops a bomb inside, and then shoots at both cars with a machine gun. The bomb explodes and both cars wreck in a fiery explosion. Reviewed August 29, 2008 / Posted August 29, 2008

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2016 Screen It, Inc.