Babylon A.D.

Even before Babylon A.D.‘s release, director Mathieu Kassovitz publicly disowned the sci-fi thriller about a mercenary (Vin Diesel, asleep at the wheel) who is hired to transport a young woman (Mélanie Thierry) from a convent in Kazakhstan to New York City. But it would’ve been gutsier to take full credit for something this derivative. 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. And when martial arts star Michelle Yeoh shows up as a butt-kicking nun, you have to wonder if Kassovitz isn’t accidentally cribbing from Mel Brooks, too. D+