‘Babylon A.D.’ is ‘pure violence and stupidity’

Surprisingly, those are not the words of some disgruntled Vin Diesel fan or film critic but the sentiments of BABYLON A.D. director Mathieu Kassovitz when discussing his own film. The near-future sci-fi actioner hasn’t even hit theaters yet and Kassovitz is already attempting to scuttle the pic in a new interview posted on AMCTV.com.

What prompted this unusual criticism is not fault Kassovitz sees in his own direction but in interference from producers and 20th Century Fox. “I’m very unhappy with the film,” said Kassovitz. “I never had a chance to do one scene the way it was written or the way I wanted it to be. The script wasn’t respected. Bad producers, bad partners, it was a terrible experience.”

Apparently in response to production setbacks that were causing budget problems, Fox stepped in to re-edit the film and ended up cutting roughly 15 minutes out. The result, according to Kassovitz, is an action film that falls short of his vision.

“The movie is supposed to teach us that the education of our children will mean the future of our planet. All the action scenes had a goal: They were supposed to be driven by either a metaphysical point of view or experience for the characters… instead parts of the movie are like a bad episode of 24.”

BABYLON A.D. is a movie that has been on the Kung Fu Cinema radar for the presence of co-star Michelle Yeoh and in anticipation of seeing the latest fight choreography from France by way of an experienced stunt team led by Bob Brown (THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK) and Alain Figlarz (UNLEASHED).

The few early reviews over at Rotten Tomatoes to sneak past what appears to be a pre-screening lockout by Fox seem to confirm what Kassovitz already knows about his movie. His outspoken criticism right on the eve of its release suggests that he’s trying to distance himself from the product. Regardless of who’s really to blame for what, I doubt we’ll see Kassovitz directing a film for Fox again.

My concern at this point is for Yeoh. Aside from her cut, non-action scene in FEARLESS, she hasn’t been in a decent action movie since CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. Come to think of it, Chow Yun-fat and Cheng Pei-pei haven’t done so well either.

Damnit Ang Lee, what kind of devil curse did you put on these once great action stars?

Source: AMC via Twitch

Tags: Michelle Yeoh, upcoming