Book of Eli Strong on Action and Theme, Weak on Coherence
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010So I’m a huge fan of anything that has to do with Science Fiction films. I’m a big fan of movies that have the whole, “one man must strive to save the world-alone” theme. I’m a big fan of Denzel. And I’m an even bigger fan of Mila Kunis 
(sacrilege, I know. But she kicks ass). So The Book of Eli was a movie that I very much enjoyed. I didn’t completely love it, but it won me over due to its message (though a bit heavy) and leading characters.
The first hour of this movie was fantastic. We had Denzel soldiering on across the screen in a barren wasteland, formerly known as the lush and beautiful country of America. A war had hit that took out most of the countries people and the architecture and resources on it (referencing current conflicts). Now the remaining people trade items such as handy wipes and clothes instead of money to survive. This is an obvious allegory for the apocalypse described in The Bible, and I think that anyone that has seen the previews of this movie has already deciphered that is the book that Denzel’s Eli is carrying.
(A central theme side note: it was really nice to see a Hollywood movie portray the importance of the Christian religion, along with all others, for once. Usually it is torn down and portrayed as the enemy. Not in BoE. This film actually is wonderfully old fashioned in the way that it conveys a message of the critical importance of the written word. In a world where more and more people are into technology and ignoring how shitty devices such as Kindles are ruining our society, it was nice to see both religion and books being touted as the last cornerstones to our humanity.)
Back to the action. This film borrows many scenes from Road Warrior and that didn’t bother me one bit. It sort of became an homage as the time went on (lol). By the time the first action sequence rolls along and Denzel takes out about five different thieves, I was ready to go. The thing about Denzel is that even with lesser material, his presence onscreen is captivating and you listen to what he is saying without realizing you are doing so. This is one of the anchoring factors in the movie and it works with its theme in that the main character is a “prophet.”
Gary Oldman plays the villain (of course, though it’s been a bit since we’ve seen him as nasty as he was in Leon) and Kunis is his “daughter.” He forces her to spend the night with Denzel in order convince him to help him find The Book, unaware he possesses it. One thing leads to another and Kunis and Denzel forge a father/daughter relationship and venture out together to take to book to The West. Kunis is spunky and tough and this time gets to display a lot more action heroine range than she was allowed to in the dreadful Max Payne.
The story drags towards the end and the action lessens, delving into the critical message. I really liked this film. The best action sequence plays around Kunis’ escape when she is recaptured by Oldman and had me almost jumping out of my seat due to her female bad ass glory (Note to Tarantino…….When you make Kill Bill 3……consider Kunis for the role of BeBe….PLEASE). Nonetheless, many plot holes pop up and when you finally “see” Denzel’s character’s flaws, you will be scratching your head how in the world he pulled that off….unless you just want to have “faith” in the movie and be a believer.
That what I chose…
Kunis’ shades are super sweet, too. So even if the apocolpyse comes, we can still have great sunglasses
Horrible movie! It was a mash-up of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome and Moses(Starring Charleston Heston)! The best scene was the opening sequence with rain of toxic ash and the need to kill hairless cats for food. The opening scene was so desolate and unkind it that the rest of the movie seems peachy!
There were other unbelievable elements, like he’s been walking the US for 30 years? (I mean even if you were letting “God” or “Faith” lead you, I think West has always been where the Sun sets, and the world painted in the movie had plenty of that to follow!
Next, the iPod! What’s with that? Most people in the world can’t even get water and resort to cannibalism and Denzel has an iPod. Not to mention that finding a charge for his iPod would be a bitch, and keeping that charge even harder. My iPod seems to loose its charge faster and faster each month and he falls asleep to it every night!
Lastly, the closing scene with Mila Kunis fading into the distance heat waves is just corny! No matter how much you like Mila! Her character was too naive and gullible to believe she could have survived alone.
The best character of the whole movie was Mila Kunis’ mother. She was the key to this stories’ protaganist and didn’t give him resolution. Best twist ever, even though I saw it coming a mile and called the twist halfway through the movie!
Although, an interesting view of a bleak religion-less future, in the end “The Book of Eli” was boring, predictable, and unrealistic. Sorry, I cannot agree!
Hi. Super-Duper work. I did not expect this monday. The reason being a prime story. Thanx!