Movie review: 'The Book of Eli' - Denzel goes beyond Thunderdome...

 

The Book of Eli/2010

Directed by: The Hughes Brothers

Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals

The Plot: 30 years after the apocalypse a lone prophet of God walks the sand-blasted terrain of America thumping skulls instead of thumping his bible. A bible which may or may not be the last transcription of the Holy Scriptures. When "Eli" (Washington) finds his way into the clutches of a sleazy charlatan, (Oldman) a man that will stop at nothing to possess the book above anything else, his faith, as well as the edge of his combat machete, is tested...

The Good: Movies are like Paleontologists - usually they don't believe in God. Which makes the Hughes Brothers new Armageddon flick The Book of Eli something of a rarity in this day and age - The Book of Eli believes in God. That little red "ELI" in the middle of the film's "BELIEVE" tag-line wasn't just a clever marketing tool, the movie really does expect you to believe. If that isn't your thing than you might find yourself rolling your eyes through most of Eli. If it is your thing, prepare to be pleasantly surprised. The Book of Eli isn't just another Mad Max drone, it's challenging, often ballsy, stuff.

The Bible, its abuses and its properties for salvation, are thoroughly examined between the relationship of Denzel's prophet Eli and the very Jim Jones-Light Carnegie as each man struggles with the consequences of possessing the book might mean - what it could mean for Earth's last frazzled inhabitants, and what it could mean for a man desperate to wield true power. The kind of power that can burn a world to cinders, but can also keep men and women in step and moving forward with a sense of purpose and unity in a landscape beset by chaos and murder.

If this doesn't sound like your usual spat of post-apocalyptic mayhem that's because it really isn't. Which makes the movie something of an unexpected oddity. The Book of Eli is a post-apocalyptic action thriller - it just has a soul. Which is why I guess I'm still flushed with a post-coital glow over the film. I really wasn't expecting to be knocked out by a kickass-post-apocalyptic-movie's spirituality. That tasty little attribute came as a welcome bonus. What the Canaanites and Philistines in the movie press do with it is beyond me...

So it wouldn't be a post-apocalyptic action thriller if the action were taken out of the narrative would it? Yeah, Denzel gets to paint the town red in The Book Of Eli, and props go to the Hughes Brothers for pulling the camera back and just letting the butt-kicking unfold on a single run of film. Quick editing techniques are all fine and snazzy, but when you get to see a bar-room full of wasteland bikers get chopped into fish food in one fluid film take you really don't miss the over-cutting of a Bourne movie, or a new Bond movie. In fact you sort of respect the stunt work better this way. Denzel's a coiled rattlesnake in this flick - the fighting is all about speed and early termination. The Hughes Brothers do a fantastic job of capturing all of that spent ardenaline on film.

So guess what I'm listening to as I'm writing this review? If you said The Book of Eli soundtrack you'd be spot on ol' chum. So this soundtrack pretty much rocks. Atticus Ross created his own landscape with his music for the film. It's ethereal. It's elegant. It evokes light in a cold, dark, sh*t-stained hellhole... Honestly, it's been a while since I spent good money on a movie score. Great work Ross. 

The Bad: You know... I would have complained that the movie was too linear about 3/4 of the way through the story but then Eli's finale shocked the hell out of me. Most movie endings usually move a person about as far as the theater's exit door - The Book of Eli moved me beyond that. This is a finale that will stick with you. Now I'm sort of scratching my head wondering why I decided to bring up the movie's outstanding, if not altogether idiosyncratic, conclusion in "The Bad" portion of this review...

The Ugly: Cat lovers may want to skip the opening two minutes of the flick. Kitty gets annhialated.

The Verdict: Have yourself a spaghetti western drenched in diesel fuel - The Book of Eli is combustible and delicious. The godless might want to skip Eli and head into wastelands more fruitless and barren. But for those of you willing to give the film and its message a chance I'm thinking you'll be sincerely surprised by the movie. I know I was.

After completing that pain-in-the-bloody-ass Top 50 Movies of the Decade list last week I wasn't in such a huge hurry to begin the next ten years of film. After The Hughes Brothers awesome addition of The Book of Eli I can't wait for what the next generation of movies has to offer us. Movies are rarely this good this early in the year - The Book of Eli may have just broken the January curse. I might be in love with this movie - which is just totally and completely icky.

See It If You Like: The Omega Man, Mad Max, A Boy and His Dog, (nice wink Hughes boys) Zatoichi movies, High Plains Drifter, Larry McMurtry's Sin Killer...