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“The Book of Eli” Review (w/trailer)

Rating:

Seeing is believing. Or is it? These and many other questions are asked in The Book of Eli, a gritty post-apocalyptic ode to the spaghetti Western by the Hughes brothers. Denzel Washington commands the screen as Eli, a spiritual and solitary drifter in the mold of Clint Eastwood who, after receiving a vision, is hell bent on heading West in possession of the movie’s MacGuffin; the last known copy of the Bible on the face of the scorched Earth. Eli must battle his way across a smoldering America, protecting the pages he believes hold the very secrets to saving humankind.

It has been 31 years since The War that tore a hole in the sky. An angry God has flipped the board game of human civilization off the table, set it on fire and then stomped it out with extreme prejudice. It’s the world of Mad Max, where no matter where you go it is a dangerous place to be. Barbarism, selfishness, hyper-vigilance; even cannibalism, are the norm.

We are introduced to this wasteland world in a fantastic opening sequence. In a dense, wind-blown forest where ash falls from the sky like snow, the camera tracks a scene of absolute devastation. Resembling what sections of the Ardennes Forest looked like after a few days of shelling by Nazi artillery, there are traces of the modern world we recognize scattered about the rubble and smoking heaps of carnage. As the camera takes a slow lick of the giant ashtray, we make out the shape of our hero; camouflaged neck deep in rubble, a makeshift crossbow pulled taught in front of him. The only sounds are the howling wind from the distant firestorms and the constant falling of ash and debris onto the crackling leaves of the forest floor. He takes careful aim at his unsuspecting prey; a feral cat feasting on the toes of a corpse.

This is heavy stuff, and we’ve seen it before, but the Hughes brothers manage to shoot it in such a way that it looks fresh again. It has a music video feel with the generous use of slow motion and loud bass riffs, the muted colors making the movie almost black and white, with some scenes blanched in shades of blue or sepia. It looks delicious. And who would be a cooler person to have waltz through such tasty scenery than Denzel Washington? Much has been written about the way Washington walks, having as recognizable a gait as anyone since John Wayne. The Hughes brothers take full advantage of this talent.

Saying the movie has Western influences, especially Sergio Leone, would be an understatement. In fact there were times I thought Lee Van Cleef was going to pop up during one of the shootouts, or that the twanging guitars and mariachis were replaced by Nine Inch Nails doing the soundtrack.

Gary Oldman makes a welcome return to playing a bad guy, starring as the sadistic Corrigan, a preaching, power-hungry Jimmy Swaggert-looking leader of a small town somewhere in the California desert. He is in power simply because he controls the town’s resources, in this case an underground spring that provides the town with precious drinking water. Corrigan wants Eli’s book. Only instead of using it for the salvation of humanity, he desires to use the book as a weapon, using “the words” to control people and expand his empire without having to resort to the more “violent motivations.”

Oldman and Washington chew up scenery like few actors can, and they are both great in this movie. Unfortunately we are also introduced to Corrigan’s daughter Solara, played by Mila Kunis of That 70’s Show fame. I don’t have anything against Kunis; I’m sure she’s talented and she is quite attractive, but she just can’t hold her own when she’s sharing the screen with either of those two Hollywood heavyweights. She is a distraction. If you don’t believe me, let’s just say the film’s final scene depicting Solara walking off into the sunset is nothing short of laughable. I mean, two Academy Award caliber actors sharing screen time with somebody who’s spent the last decade on TV being outshone by the likes of Ashton Kutcher and a guy named Fez? Really.

There is a twist at the end that I guess is supposed to shock the audience, but I found it unnecessary and really kind of disappointing. But I won’t spoil it. I will just say that the ending is somewhat anticlimactic and felt a bit rushed to me. It is of course accompanied with the obligatory gun battles and bloodshed. What I felt were the best lines in the film came from Eli early on, talking about how the world was before The War. The words hit home and I feel the Hughes brothers fashioned them in such a way for maximum impact.

When describing our pre-armageddon lives Washington softly says, “We had more than we needed. We had no idea what was precious and what wasn’t. We threw away things that we kill each other for now.” Explicit religious undertones, moral messages and Mila Kunis aside this is a good movie. Plus Denzel swings around one wicked machete, easily one of the baddest movie weapons I’ve seen since The Glave, the five-pointed disc from 1983’s Krull.

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