Viewed in
2011
Formats
HDTV
Premise
Denzel Washington stars as a lone wanderer in charge of protecting a book in a post-apocalyptic America.
Liked
Interesting visuals.
Thoughts
Similar to The Road, the directors did a fine job of creating a bleak and desperate world. You can see the craftsmanship from cinematography, wardrobe, production design, visual effects and color to make an immersive vision and mood. Composer Aticuss Ross' unique sound definitely made more sense here than in The Social Network.
After that, the similarities with the introspective The Road ceased. The rest of The Book of Eli was more Mad Max, with gangsters, wild wild west mentality, and nothing of note in terms of story or characters. Acting-wise, it was fine: Denzel was bad ass, Mila Kunis was hot, Gary Oldman was menacing, with Michael Gambon and Tom Waits in small, insignificant roles. Meanwhile, the Hughes brothers got their Michael Bay on with well-executed, seemingly-uninterrupted shootouts.
If there were any Christian allegories, I was definitely unaware of it.
It was very cool to look at, and there's nothing wrong with watching Denzel kicking butt or walking in slow motion. But as a film buff, this post-apocalyptic flick felt vastly inferior compared to the post-apocalyptic tour-de-force that came out two months earlier.
What I would change
No idea.
