ReelBob: ‘Tales of Babylon’ ★★★
By Bob Bloom
“Tales of Babylon” begins with Martin (Phil Tomlin), a chubby, bespectacled young man bullied by neighborhood toughs, his boss and obnoxious customers.
It ends with a shootout worthy of a Sergio Leone spaghetti Western.
In between, is a lively, sometime comic, story intersecting the lives of a handful of assassins. The movie, written and directed by Pelayo De Lario, is a tip of the hat to Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” but De Lario adds his own style of panache as the film progresses.
The movie is close to a crime-ridden “La Ronde,” in which everyone seems to be connected to each other in one way or another.
At the center of the movie is a little girl known only as The Kid (Billie Gadsdon). She is sought by her grandfather, the crime boss known as the Silver Dragon (Clive Russell).
Either working for him or against him are such hit people as the foul-mouthed and volatile X (Ray Calleja), the cool and calm Y (Aaron Cobham), the icy The Professional (Albert Tallski) and the no-nonsense, eyepatch-wearing Mother Nature (Maria Crittell).
At various points in “Tales of Babylon,” these characters either beat, shoot or hold each other at gunpoint. The movie is violent, but not as brutal as it sounds.
The dark humor that runs throughout the movie involves the Tarantino-like verbal exchanges between characters.
If there is a standout character, it’s Calleja’s X. His initial instinct is always to shoot first, no matter what the situation.
De Lario creates a kind of sexual tension between X and Y that lingers even after the movie fades to black.
Close behind Calleja is Tomlin’s Martin whose constant abuse by those around him drive him to a breaking point that no one expected. The movie, which begins with Martin, winds back to him in the final reel.
The final gunbattle is almost a homage to Leone’s Westerns with quick cuts to close-ups on the various characters before the shooting commences.
“Tales of Babylon,” which is now streaming, is — even at 126 minutes — a lively outing. The characters, while only sketched by De Lario, nonetheless grab your attention and keep you involved.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
TALES OF BABYLON
3 stars out of 4Not rated, graphic violence, language