THE BOOK OF ELI
HAYLIN BELAY'S REVIEW
RATING: C-
I love post-apocalyptic stories. Is that even at all surprising? Most self-professed geeks can really get behind the gritty survivalist sci fi action of a good post-apoc tale, from I AM LEGEND (the book more than the mediocre movie) to MAD MAX and even stories outside of the realm of sci fi like 2009's THE ROAD. The first tastes of publicity for THE BOOK OF ELI looked pretty promising to a post-apoc action geek, too; interesting costume designs, killer landscapes, and the sort of desolate atmosphere any good survivalist film needs. As more about the film came to light, however, I found myself taking a few steps down from my initial excitement. The book that Denzel Washington's character Eli is protecting with his life - and at the cost of the lives of others - is, in fact, the King James Bible. The last King James Bible, as it were. Christianity and splatterpunk? Not the most natural of combination.
Unfortunately, instead of innovative and creative, the marriage of God and guns just doesn't work for THE BOOK OF ELI, and for several reasons. For one, Eli isn't really a model Christian. On his journey to the "west" (he never specifies a destination until the very, very end of the film), he kills dozens of people, often unnecessarily and, in one notable instance, in an unnecessarily cruel manner. He allows a woman to be raped without intervening, breaking the "good Samaritan" values of the Bible. Oh, and he frequently bears false witness. I know that man is imperfect, but because Eli is painted as a Christian hero - bordering on prophet - I expected him to be a paragon of godly values. Having a man of God who kills is not new; THE BOONDOCK SAINTS is one of my favorite films, and the main characters are effectively men murdering in the name of God. The difference? THE BOONDOCK SAINTS presents a rationalized moral reason for these killings, openly shows fault in its main characters, and doesn't take the religious aspect of the film seriously. This is important, because THE BOONDOCK SAINTS is an action film. THE BOOK OF ELI frequently forgets that it is an action film, painting Eli as a messiah in one scene and having him kill a dozen relatively harmless bar patrons in the next. And, amusingly enough, the film centers around Eli protecting and propagating this Bible, completely ignoring the fact that the King James Bible is one of the least reliable translations of the text.
But there are problems outside of Eli's shaky faith and shakier characterization - for example, Washington's shaky portrayal of him. Washington is getting old, and its starting to show significantly. His performance in this film is all but the definition of phoning it in. Now, I'll admit, he didn't have a lot to work with, but his performance as Eli sets the entire tone of the film: narm. For the non-geeks in the audience, "narm" is a term used to describe a plot or situation that should be dramatic, but, due to overacting, ends up being unintentionally hilarious. THE BOOK OF ELI's frequent trips into spirituality and badass action hero-ing, often accompanied by slow motion and unnecessarily epic music, made me giggle when they were meant to make my jaw drop. Mila Kunis's performance as Solara is whole-hearted, but the fact that she is constantly relegated to propping up Eli's boring spiritual drama makes her a frustrating waste of space. Gary Oldman's performance stands out, if only because Oldman is so constantly on point with his portrayal of the villain Carnegie, a man who is not an atheist but a nominal Christian with deeply corrupt morals. Of all of the characters, Carnegie is the most fascinating and interesting to watch. Unfortunately for audiences, this is Washington's film.
There are some incredibly strong aspects of the film, however. It's a post-apocalyptic story, and the visuals really drive this point home. I couldn't help but get excited at the sight of the innovative character design, costuming, sets, and landscapes; aesthetically, THE BOOK OF ELI was a near-perfect grungy disasterpunk fairytale. The only misstep was the costuming for Solara, who looked more like a New York City hipster than a girl fighting for her life in the hot sun, but even this is a minor price to pay for the sight of those old post-apoc favorites: goggles, dreadlocks, mismatched clothing, and the infinitely flexible medium of dirt and grime. The action scenes were perfect, as well - fast-paced without being confusing, with just enough creativity to keep every scene interesting and new. When THE BOOK OF ELI pulls the audience in, it really pulls them in; I spent a good 45 minutes of the film grinning like an idiot at the splatterpunk gore and mayhem. But, as soon as the film lulled into a break of Eli reading passages from the Bible and looking mournful, I completely lost interest.
The plot has more holes than the shoot-out scene in the third act of the film, the characters are weaker than stone soup, and the Christian aspect of the film is overplayed to the point of absurdity. As much as I wanted to like the film for all its positive aspects - the visuals, the action, the interesting (but, unfortunately, unexplored) world that writer Gary Whitta created - I just couldn't get over the absolute stupidity of trying to combine Christian morality and hard action. Most Christians would be unwilling to sit through the gore of a film like THE BOOK OF ELI, but most disasterpunk enthusiasts are, like me, geeks who are either atheist, agnostic, or just plain apathetic. We geeks don't want God in our action movies - at least, not in a heavy-handed and preachy way - and Christians rarely want hard, bloody action in their God movies (well, unless it's PASSION OF THE CHRIST). In short, THE BOOK OF ELI ends up alienating everyone. It makes me wonder... who exactly do the producers expect will see the film and enjoy both aspects of it? That small minority might love it, but for most viewers, THE BOOK OF ELI is only half right.
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RENEE' COLLINS' REVIEW
RATING: 1 (Out of Five Reels)
I knew going into this filme that it had deep religious overtones but I was ill prepared for how deep. Eli (Denzel Washington), sole protector of the last surviving King James Bible in a post apocolyptic earth, is heading west in search of the right place to hold his bible for the greater good. As one might expect, behavior in a desolate world can be troublesome and he must kill or be killed at times to protect himself and the bible.
Gary Oldman, here?s a big surprise, portray?s Carnegie, a thug who controls a town Eli is passing through. I enjoyed Oldman?s performance, he is a fantastic actor and I have enjoyed his acting for years. Mila Kunis (Solara) and Jennifer Beals (Claudia) are also quite good in this film portraying a mother and daughter caught up in Carnegie?s web.
I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the technical aspects of this film. We see a desolate world and I did enjoy Washington portray Eli but the plot twist at the end blew the entire thing out of the water for me and I honestly cannot recommend paying full price for this one. If one must see this one, wait for to rent it or see it on television.
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MARK SALDANA'S REVIEW
RATING: 1.5 (Out of 4 Stars)
Walking out of THE BOOK OF ELI, I was bewildered. I didn?t know what to think about this film. There are the obvious elements I liked and disliked but a couple of things did not sit well with me. I just couldn?t put my finger on them right away but I knew some things are not quite right with this movie. I had to think about the movie, process it, and replay some of the moments in my head which I did on the drive home. When I stepped into my doorway at home, I came to the realization that I did not like the overall product. The story idea is a great one, albeit not an entirely original one, but one that has potential. The talented cast assembled for this film project delivers nicely. The directing Hughes brothers along with their crew employ a lovely visual and editing style which helps bring this post-apocalyptic tale to life. So what went wrong?
To briefly summarize, THE BOOK OF ELI tells the tale of a drifter named Eli (Denzel Washington) who is traveling west on a mission. He is carrying an important book which holds to key to humanity?s survival and must get it in the right hands. While traveling in the wasteland of what used to be the United States, Eli must fight bikers, scavengers, and cannibals in order to survive. Upon arrival in a small village of a town, Eli encounters the village leader Carnegie (Gary Oldman) who takes an interest in him because of his fighting ability.
Carnegie?s crew has been combing the remains of the land around them in search of an important book. When it becomes apparent that Eli?s book and the book Carnegie is seeking are one and the same, Carnegie and his gang pursue Eli and his new sidekick Solara (Mila Kunis) after they escape and continue heading west. Eli is willing to fight at all costs to protect the book and keep it away from Carnegie who only wishes to exploit it and abuse its power.
This film marks the return of directors Albert and Allen Hughes after an extended break. Unfortunately, their latest project has disappointed me. Their use of visual effects, lovely cinematography by Don Burgess (SPIDER-MAN), and really cool editing by Cindy Mollo enhances the mood of the film as well as the action on the screen. However, I feel that the movie did not have enough of these really cool action scenes. The script by Gary Whitta weakens the entire film. The pacing is definitely off with too many slow moments in between the drama and action within the film. Also, there are some surprises revealed at the end of the movie which I will not spoil. One surprise makes the action in the story absolutely implausible. The other surprise pretty much makes the whole movie pointless. This last one really made me dislike the film more.
This is an absolute shame because the talented cast performed well. Denzel Washington delivers again with a passionate performance which is rendered pointless by one of the plot twists. Who knew at his age that he could pull off a kick-ass action hero? Gary Oldman who is now know as Commissioner Gordon in BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT returns to playing a villain, something he is deliciously talented at doing. Mila Kunis pulls off the role of cute and naïve sidekick to Eli. The supporting cast features Jennifer Beals (FLASHDANCE, THE L WORD), Ray Stevenson (PUNISHER: WAR ZONE), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore in the HARRY POTTER films, LAYER CAKE), and singer Tom Waits.
With a great cast like this and talented directors like the Hughes brothers this film could have been amazing. However, the ridiculous script pretty much nullifies all the positives. On their next project, I hope the Hughes brothers are working with better material. As a fan of their previous work, this film is a huge letdown. Oh and a word of advice to screenwriters, do not use a plot twist if it renders your entire story pointless.
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