***
out of ****
I've
mentioned in this blog before about my fascination with
post-apocalyptic films, dating way back to seeing “The Omega Man”
when I was about 10 or 11 years old. There are a lot of good films
of this type and a lot of bad ones. “The Book of Eli” is a
uniquely good one.
The
world came to a nuclear end as we know it 30 years ago. Much of the
land is dead and useless, and humanity is very thinned out due to
lack of resources. Survival is the only thing that matters, and it
isn't easy as the world is dominated by roving marauders, gangs of
thugs and cannibals. Eli (Denzel Washington) wants to be left alone
to travel his own path, and it would be a good idea to let him, as
the guy fights like a combination of Bruce Lee, Darth Vadar and
Leatherface.
One
man, Carnegie (Gary Oldman) has built a strong community with himself
as a despotic leader, and he is obsessed with finding himself a
Bible. He remembers the power of this book to lead men and he is
convinced he will increase his power exponentially if he can get his
hands on a copy. And when he discovers that Eli is in possession of
one, he will do anything to have it.
“The
Book of Eli” is fascinating in many ways. It can be seen as an
action film, or a post-nuclear genre film, or even as a spiritual
one. Eli was led to 'the Book' by a voice in his head and for the
past 30 years has been following that voice to make sure the book
ends up where it really belongs. Add to this a twist late in the
film that tells you something shocking about Eli, something you would
never have guessed in a million years, and it adds to the power of
that message.
Not
being a religious guy I still found myself moved by the strength of
the characters' convictions. Mila Kunis is also excellent as Solara,
an employee of Carnegie that falls in with Eli on his quest."The Book of Eli"
isn't a really great film, but it's a damn good one, which I have
seen 3 or 4 times already. Very much worth your time.
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