The Book of Eli Review

Preface

I think I'm pretty good at game reviews, but I don't really do movie reviews, and I have a lot more knowledge about gaming than I do movies, so don't expect the same quality here as you get in my game reviews. I will keep this a bit on the shorter side, and forgive me if I misuse terminology. I'm not much of a film expert. This is just a layman's impressions of a fairly good (to his understanding) film. Feel free to correct me if need be, but keep the insults to a minimum ;)

Plot Synopsis

The movie follows a man named Eli (played by Denzel Washington) who has been on a journey for 30 years, walking west across America after the apocalypse. He carries with him a book, the very last of its kind, and his goal is simply to reach a destination somewhere west, where the book will be safe.

After the war and the Big Flash, as they call the nuclear event that nearly ended all civilization, Eli was apparently guided by a higher power to the book, which was buried under some rubble, and given the task of protecting the book and taking it to its final destination. Eli guards the book with his life, because he believes that the book is the only hope that humanity has for its future.

Along his way, he encounters ruthless bandits who rape and pillage for both resources and for fun, and eventually, the self appointed laeader of a town, who has been searching for the very book Eli carries with him. This fellow, Carnigie, wishes to utilize this book to subjugate the masses and bring even more power to himself.

In his dealing with these ruffians, Eli displays inhuman fighting ability and survivability/durability. It leaves one wondering whether he is really fighting alone, or does he have some sort of power guiding/helping/protecting him? This isn't really made explicitly clear, although I think it was fairly obvious what the truth was. Either way, we watch him fight for his life, and the safety of the book. Will he make it to his destination? Or will he succumb to the mounting pressure and fail after 30 years of effort?

Review Part

Well, I went into the movie feeling fairly optimistic, but a little apprehensive as well, as I really didn't desire to be subjected to a bunch of pro-religous sentiments, and luckily, that wasn't the case (well, mostly), and my optimism was justifed.

This was a pretty great movie. I loved the way it was shot; some really great camera work was on display. They filmed the action scenes really well, and none of that shaky cam and quick cut bullshit reared its amatuerish, cheap, and ugly head.

The characters had a bit more depth than I would have expected for a movie of this nature, although there was definitely room for improvement in this regard. Another 40 minutes or so and some delving into backstory would have done wonders for the movie, as I was curious to hear more about the ''apocalypse'' and Carnigie's rise to power, if you will, but I could see how many, or even most, people would say it was long enough and woud have been ''too boring'' had they extended it. Perhaps a dvd release will remedy this?

In terms of look, gorgeous. Great use of color. They really nailed that drab, post apocalyptic look you'd expect, and I ironically found myself thinking how beautiful it looked o-0. The first glimpse of water was quite an astonishing moment, as it really drove home the discrepancy between what once was and what now is.

One annoying thing was the product placement. Is this how all new movies are doing it (I don't see too many anymore)? Another thing was it was pretty obvious where they were going with the movie (ie, a bit predictable) although there was one detail revealed near the end that I totally did not pick up on. I don't know why all these movies need a ''twist'' now, but this one was okay.

I'm often disappointed at movies and therefore try to avoid the theater as much as possible but the last 3 movies I have seen have been great. District 9, Avatar (twice) and now the book of Eli.

Anyone else see it? What did you think?