Last week we found out that Gary Oldman would be joining the cast of Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom. Now DreamWorks Animation has revealed the names of some other actors who’ve joined the cast of the sequel to the 2008 hit, Kung Fu Panda.

Most interesting of them all is the addition of the man, the myth, the legend, Jean-Claude Van Damme. The action star has been pretty much disappeared off the Hollywood radar aside for the role as himself in JCVD and a couple of returns to his Universal Soldier role.

Babylon A.D.
Two-Disc Special Edition
Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz
Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Mélanie Thierry, Gérard Depardieu, Charlotte Rampling
Fox Home Entertainment
Released Date: January 6, 2009

Sometimes you see a movie and you’re just not sure what to say about it. You’ve got one thousand and one very solid thoughts about it, but you’re not sure how to put them. Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it’s bad. None the less, this is what has happened to me for Babylon A.D., so bear with me as best you can.

Babylon A.D. follows Toorop (Vin Diesel), a mercenary who’s living in an anarchy-ridden Russia after being banished from the U.S. for terrorism. While scraping to get by, Toorop is offered a job from an evil mob boss-type named Gorsky (Gérard Depardieu), who offers him the chance to get a fresh, clean slate back in America and a $500,000 payday. The job: deliver a young girl (Mélanie Thierry) along with her mother-figure (Michelle Yeoh) who’s never seen the outside world from a convent full of those who are called Noelites to New York City.

By Graceland Geek

Babylon A.D.
Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz
Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Gerard Depardieu
Rated PG-13
Release date: August 29, 2008

Earlier this week director Mathieu Kassovitz told AMC that he was very unhappy with Babylon A.D.. “It’s pure violence and stupidity,” he admits. “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.”

Ultimately, Kassovitz is correct in everything he said but that didn’t make me hate the film, but nothing was enough for me to like it either. To me, the film seemed like someone tried to take Children of Men, Blade Runner, Minority Report, The Fifth Element , and Serenity and attempted to incorporate all the best elements into this post-apocalyptic tale, which ended up instead being nothing short of The Bodyguard or Waterworld, where you have a stoic male character protecting a younger female character. As the director himself put it, this film was simply a bunch of cut action scenes that blend together into a story that had absolutely no character development or story all.

Tai-Chi Master (1993)
Directed by Yuen Wo-Ping
Written by Ip Kwong-Kim
Starring Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Chin Siu-Ho, Fannie Yuen, Yuen Cheung-Yan, Lau Shun
Dragon Dynasty
Release Date: July 29, 2008

As children and later as young men, Buddhist monks Jun (Jet Li) and Chin were furiously inseparable at their monastery, and used their friendship and competitive natures to better each others teachings and martial arts skills. But when Chin’s rash temper leads to a brawl between all the monks, both Chin and Jun are banished from the monastery and sent out into the world for the first time. Their journey brings them into a nearby town, and no sooner do they arrive then they witness the power of authority that the local Governor has on the town.

Jun tries to help a few of the locals being bullied by the soldiers and later joins a growing underground rebellion including an alcoholic scorned by her husband (Michelle Yeoh). Meanwhile, Chin becomes obsessed with obtaining the wealth and power he sees being used by the Governor and joins the local military to begin his ascension toward greatness, but only finds himself corrupted by his desires. Now on opposite sides, Jun and Chin have become the worst of enemies. As Chin, who has now gained control of the military, seeks to crush the rebels once and for all, Jun makes a singular attack against Chin using his newly mastered technique of Tai Chi!