The Book of Eli Movie Review

The first feature from the Hughes Brothers after nine years is the third film in the short span of four months to tackle the sensitive yet blockbuster end-of-the-world genre. “The Book of Eli” follows the journey of a mysterious wanderer spending 30 years time travelling across a post-apocalyptic landscape with the world’s only remaining bible in tow.

Set 30 years after the final war in a future not so far away, Denzel Washington stars as the solitary man, Eli, journeying through the wasteland once known as America. The once thriving earth is converted into nothing more than empty cities, broken highways, and seared lands caused by massive destruction. Civilization and laws no longer exist and instead the land is littered with gangs willing to murder for the sake of necessity.

Though Eli seeks to discover and spread peace through the use of the bible, he doesn’t back down to challenges and cuts down his attackers even before they realize what they’ve done wrong. Driving him to survive and continue on with his journey is his hope for the future which he’s carried and guarded for more than 30 years now.

In the not-too-distant future, some 30 years after the final war, a solitary man walks across the wasteland that was once America. Empty cities, broken highways, seared earth–all aroundAmong the few people living in the current post-apocalyptic world only self-appointed tyrant of a makeshift town of thieves and gunmen, Carnegie (Gary Oldman) understands the immense power and influence Eli holds. Meanwhile Solara (Mila Kunis), Carnegie’s adopted daughter turns fascinated with Eli for the possible future that exists beyond their current domain.

However neither of them would be able to distract and prevent him from reaching his goal. Eli continues to strive and push harder to continue moving towards the fulfillment of his destiny and offer help to humanity.

The film’s greatest strength and charisma comes from the immense work of the production crew behind the film to set the atmosphere for a post-apocalyptic world. Allen and Albert Hughes red digital camera system allows for slow, lateral, tracking shots of New Mexico. The film’s loss of color offered a sepia look which matches perfectly the devastated tone projected by “The Book of Eli”. From the specific details of clouds moving in the opposite direction as Eli littering the desert skies, it’s obvious the crew took the time and effort to construct a world that would struck a chord to viewers. The backdrop is complemented by the strange electronic score created by Atticus Ross, Claudia Sarne, and Leopold Ross.

Though the craft and technicality behind the film receives much praise, the use of CGI to enhance the look of a ravaged future had been to overused to date. It offers quite a disappointment that what we see on screen is what we had expected on the first place: skeleton cities, forgotten worldwide landmarks, broken highways packed with abandoned cars, and survivors littering the land. How I wish they’ve created a new angle to the look of a ruined Earth to distinguish it uniquely from the rest.

One of the great mishaps that had fallen over “The Book of Eli” is the timing of the film after the current release of John Hillcoat’s “The Road”. Unfortunate for the film, many viewers would compare its similar plot to “The Road” of a man travelling west across America in a post-apocalyptic setting. Eli’s battle against scavengers has an uncanny resemblance to Viggo Mortenson’s character and his son. The similarity in the storyline may be either intentional or unintentional but the plot is so overused it’s no wonder two films have used it. If only “The Book of Eli” twisted the storyline a little to offer a new perspective once more to the reigning genre, it would soar into high-flying success.