In a very short space of time two post-apocalyptic films have been release, the brilliant The Road which is aiming for Oscar glory, and the action packed The Book of Eli which is appealing for the mass audience.
30 years after a massive war which blow a hole in the sky, possibly a nuclear war, Eli (Denzel Washington) is a lone traveller heading to the West Coast of America. He is a skilled martial artist, armed with guns, a long knife and a bow and is carrying the last King James Bible. On the way he has to avoid and kill hijackers and cannibals. On his travel Eli has to stop off in a ramshackle of a town to buy water and recharge his gear. The town itself run on a barter economy. The leader of the town, Carnegie (Gary Oldman), was impressed by Eli's skill and even more impressed when he found out he can read. Carnegie offer's the traveller a place in his gang. But when Carnegie finds out Eli has the Bible he ends up searching for Eli. The Bible would give Carnegie the ideological based to strengthen his position and expand his power base. Eli goes on the run, hoping to go West and is joined by a young girl Solara (Mila Kunis). He teaches Solara about the Bible and religion and why it is important he goes west.
The best thing about the film is the action. It was slick, stylist, well-edited and at times a fine long fixed shots. There are brilliant moments with the way the camera goes through buildings, and follows the action. The Hughes Brothers have good style as action directors, better then say Michael Bay or McG who throw everything at the camera.
The story is not that original, there are elements of likes like Mad Max 2 and 3, The Road and the Man With No Name trilogy. But there are interesting ideas, the use of religion as political ideology, the use of religion as political control and showing both the good and bad sides of faith. Most films only show one side of the other: but this does both and I can praise it for that. I think given a bit of fine tuning then this could have been a really good script.
As mentioned, the Hughes brothers have style as action directors, but they also filmed in a slightly washed out look, giving the film a more given a gritty, earthy feel. It doesn't camp it up like the third Max Mad film did. They pacing was good for the most part and allow you to get to the character as well as seeing the action. However some moments did drag the film and could have been sped up. Others just didn't fit, like the slightly comical scene with an elderly couple played by Frances de la Tour and Michael Gambon. 10 to 15 minutes could have been cut.
Denzel Washington is possibly one of the coolest actors in the world. He was well cast as the protagonist, and since the character is a bit older then usual action hero Washington was the right age for the film. Gary Oldman does his use villainous role he is normally good at, look at his roles in True Romance, Leon, the Fifth Element and Air Force One. He gives his character a young Jack Nicholoson quality, though my brother said he reminded him of Bill the Butcher from Gangs of New York. He was good as he normally is. However whilst Mila Kunis is easy on the eye, her performance was weak and wooden. She wasn't believable as a young girl looking for a way out and able to grow as a character. At least she has Family Guy to fall back on. Other smaller roles were also not as convincing as the lead roles.
This was a decent film, but there was room for improvement.
