If you’re still trying to decide whether Babylon A.D. is worth spending your money on this week, there are two things you should probably note:

1. The bored look on Vin Diesel’s face. (See above.)
2. These words from the film’s director: “It’s pure violence and stupidity.”

And while there are times when that last sentence might be considered a compliment, Mathieu Kassovitz wasn’t trying to be funny.

Why would a director say such an awful thing about his own film? Well, because the finished product didn’t come out the way he had intended to.

“I’m very unhappy with the film. 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.”

Keep in mind, this adaptation was something the French filmmaker had been wanting to create for 5 years. (The movie is based on a French novel titled Babylon Babies by Maurice Georges Dantec.) Unfortunately, budgetary problems, weather setbacks and interfering studio took his vision in an entirely different direction. (Which is probably why I can’t recall ever seeing a commercial for the barely promoted project.)

In the end, Kassovitz’s story about a mercenary who helps transport a woman from Eastern Europe to New York in 2019 was whittled down by the studio to a reportedly confusing 93 minutes.

“I should have chosen a studio that has guts. Fox was just trying to get a PG-13 movie. I’m ready to go to war against them, but I can’t because they don’t give a s—t.”

Uhh, thanks for the warning.