io9: michelle yeoh

Vin Diesel Versus A Rocket With His Name On It

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:20:00 PDT

How smart is Vin Diesel in Babylon A.D., the dystopian thriller about genetic engineering and religion and the evils of science? He might just be smart enough to outthink a smart missile. This clip which IGN posted is most notable for reminding everyone that Michelle Yeoh is actually in this movie along with Vin. Babylon A.D., about Diesel's mercenary character teaming up with Yeoh's killer nun to transport a special girl (Melanie Thierry) across a post-apocalyptic wasteland, opens on Friday. [IGN]

Michelle Yeoh Is A Kickboxing Nanny In Babylon AD

Meredith Woerner — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:20:00 PDT

New Babylon AD clips from French Premiere Magazine show the inner workings of Vin Diesel's soul. Diesel plays a mercenary named Toorop who prays, punches and lectures the hot young psychic girl who's chased by a doomsday cult. Toorop has to transport the girl across a post-apocalyptic landscape, with the help of super-boxing nanny Michelle Yeoh. The spoilery new clips show how refugees of the future get from place to place, and showcase the new jumpy fighting style that Vin has been reduced to. Babylon AD comes out August 28.

[Premiere Magazine]

The Real Wonder Woman

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:05:00 PDT

The greatest Wonder Woman movie of all time has already been made — even if Joel Silver comes to his senses and offers Joss Whedon unlimited money and creative control. I'm referring, of course, to the Hong Kong film Heroic Trio, which featured Wonder Woman (Anita Mui), alongside Invisible Girl (Michelle Yeoh) and Thief Catcher (Maggie Cheung) battling a monster who creates cannibalistic mutant children. Less well known, but even weirder, is the sequel, The Executioners. Where the first film was disturbing, the second is apocalyptic and depressing, culminating with the most psychotic arm-ripping, chest-spearing fight scene in history, which is below.

Some people hate The Executioners for being so bleak and grim, but it's actually pretty amazing in its jarringness, especially if you saw and loved the first movie.

In a nutshell, it takes place six years after the first movie (even though they were filmed at the same time.) There's been some kind of unspecified nuclear holocaust, and society is crapping out the way it always does in post-nuclear dystopias. All of the city's water supply has been poisoned or contaminated, so fresh water is incredibly scarce. The military and the civilian authorities are grappling for power, and there are refugees, and tons of people die in horrible disasters. And there's a lot of moping and grim music.

Meanwhile, the three heroes from the first movie are splintered apart and don't trust each other any more. At the end of the film, they finally come together to fight the Phantom Of The Opera-looking villain — who's the head of the water company and secretly responsible for contaminating the water. The fight scene above comes just after the trio have finally made up and promised to be friends forever, which makes the bloody and horrendous fight scene that follows even more awful. Michelle Yeoh finally pulls an exploding arrow that's been stuck in her chest out, to blow up the water company CEO.

Finally, A Dystopia Grim Enough For Vin Diesel

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Here's the first teaser trailer for August's Babylon A.D., the troubled Vin Diesel future dystopia movie based on a French graphic novel. It looks as pretty as you'd expect from director Matthieu Kassovitz (Gothika), and the scenes of Russia and China sliding into chaos look alarmingly lifelike. Plus, Vin Diesel is still mostly bald and charmingly thuggish, and we finally get to see Michelle Yeoh. I'm still cautiously optimistic. Click through for a gallery of new stills.

Here's the official synopsis:

Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to China. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah.

[SciFiCool]