Denzel Washington strays from his recent Tony Scott thrillers (Deja Vu, Pelham 123) to participate in an odd post-apocalyptic tale (yes, another one of those). While I think much of the audience interested in this film already knows what Denzel’s “Eli” character is protecting as he wanders through what’s left of Earth’s wasteland following a nuclear fallout, I will refrain from revealing the big mystery.
With “The Road,” “Terminator Salvation,” “2012,” “I am Legend” and even “Wall-E,” audiences have seen the end of the world quite a bit lately. “The Book of Eli” fits right in. While this film deserves to be stronger than it is, the Hughes Bros. (absent for a decade) deliver a gutsy, expensive mainstream movie. The set design is amazing–you can definitely tell lots of studio money went into this one. The action sequences are sharp, bloody, and stinging. Some of the flick feels a little generic, but I expected as much. While it won’t be the post-apocalyptic film to remember, it is a challenging and consistently entertaining film with the likes of Denzel Washington (in a refreshing out-there movie for him, even if he often settles back into “Man in Fire” mode) and Gary Oldman (back to his smarmy evil best). The action delivers, and while the message of it is certainly obtuse, “The Book of Eli” is a daring offering considering its subject matter.
Last 5 posts by Matt V
- Escape Plan - October 20th, 2013
- Captain Phillips - October 16th, 2013
- Gravity - October 15th, 2013
- Prisoners - October 15th, 2013
- World War Z - June 20th, 2013
I thought this movie was exceptionally ambitious, even if it wasn’t quite as good as it tried to be. The ending came on a bit too soon, and made it seem like he was a country mile from his destination for most of the movie. It would have been nice to see a little more of his 30-year journey to really cement the epic feel to it all, but overall I enjoyed it and found its message to be original and even a little inspiring. I actually went back and watched the first 15 minutes again after it was over, thanks to the big reveal at the end.
I do have to say that the soundtrack perfectly fit the movie, and the haunting distorted guitar swells added a great deal to the film.