The Book of Eli

Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): ***½

The hero appears in a lonely, desolate landscape, colored like gray dust. He's good with weapons, good with his fists. He stays out of trouble when it doesn't concern him. He's a loner. He arrives in town, like he's looking for something, like he has something to do. He doesn't offer up any information about himself, and when anyone asks, he answers in short, guarded sentences. In short, The Book of Eli is a Western that just happens to be set in post-apocalyptic times.

Eli (Denzel Washington) does indeed have something he needs to do. He's carrying a book with him, and he needs to take it West. The book is not named for a while, but it quickly becomes clear that it's [minor spoiler alert] The Bible. (Don't worry. The movie has many other surprises.) He keeps an iPod with him and likes to listen to Al Green, so he stops in a little town to get it re-charged and for water and other supplies. (He pays for this service with KFC handi-wipes.) Unfortunately, this town is run just like an Old West town, with bars and prostitutes, and a guy in charge, the educated Carnegie (Gary Oldman), who is looking for more and more power. He has decided that one way to gain power and to keep people in line is to bring back religion. For that he needs a Bible, and no one can find one. Yet.

This of course leads to chases, fights, shootouts and a lot of explosions. The landscape is littered with all kinds of desperate souls, attempting to lay traps for passerby, or cannibals attempting to eat passerby. The movie's most conventional facet is the addition of a pretty young runaway, Solara (Mila Kunis). We get the usual stuff from the hero, "you can't come with me," etc. Eventually she does, and she thankfully provides Eli with someone to talk to.

As directed by twins Allen and Albert Hughes (Menace II Society, From Hell), Book of Eli contains some exceedingly well-crafted action, far better than the usual junky stuff one would expect in this kind of movie. Like the best science fiction tales, it has an underlying agenda, and the twins also handle the Biblical/religious aspect with balance and subtlety. The message never outweighs the movie, although those with some Biblical training will get more out of the film on a first viewing. There's plenty here to chew on. For the most part, it's a much craftier and more thoughtful science fiction picture than Avatar or even District 9, and its willingness to let the audience have a little slack will imbue it with a much longer shelf life.

Gary Whitta gets his first writing credit with the screenplay, although Anthony Peckham (Sherlock Holmes) reportedly did some rewriting. Washington is powerfully persuasive as the stoic, loner hero and Oldman happily chews the scenery as the bad guy. The film also gets some cool casting points with memorable roles for Jennifer Beals, Michael Gambon (Singing Detective, Harry Potter's Dumbledore), Tom Waits -- with the gravelly voice perfectly suited for a dusty post-Apocalypse, and Malcolm McDowell.

Warner Home Video's DVD and Blu-Ray release contains mostly little featurettes about the making of the film and the soundtrack, as well as deleted and extended scenes and other bonuses. Picture and sound quality are tops.