The Book of Eli (2010)

THE MOVIE: The Book of Eli (2010)

MOVIE SLOGAN: Some Will Kill To Have It. He Will Kill To Protect It.

MAJOR PLAYERS:
* DENZEL WASHINGTON – Eli (You know him from badass films such as American Gangster, Déjà Vu, and The Bone Collector. There’s a plethora more of his films.)
* GARY OLDMAN – Carnegie (You know him lately as Comissioner Gordan from the latest Batman films, or as Harry Potter’s Godfather, Sirius Black, and as the Russian terrorist in “Air Force One”.)
* MILA KUNIS – Solara (You know her from “That 70’s Show” or the receptionist from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”)

BEST QUOTE(S): “The burned the Bible because some people thought that book caused the war.” - Eli

WHY THE GUYS WILL SEE IT: Because Denzel Washington always plays a badass, and he plays a badass with a machete.

WHY THE LADIES WILL SEE IT: Because their boyfriends dragged them to it.

MARKETED AS: A post-Apocalyptic world epic journey. (And executed as marketed.)

SYNOPSIS: In a post-Apocalyptic world, Eli (Washington) has been walking West across America for 30 years since the “Big Flash.” (which is clearly the metaphor for nuclear bomb.) He has been instructed by a voice in his head to travel West while protecting a sacred book, we know as the Bible. The destination is not really known by Eli, but felt in his heart.

During his travels, he comes a across a “town” run by a corrupt man, Carnegie (Oldman.) Ironically, Carnegie is searching for the exact book Eli carries to gain personal power. Trying to “schmooze” Eli into joining his “town”” he offers up the feminine pleasures of his girlfriend’s daughter, Solara (Kunis). While this is a “family film” with the religious theme, of course, Eli is not deterred or swayed in his mission. Eli thanks the town and Carnegie for the hospitality, but while trying to continue West, not only does Solara try to be a stowaway with Eli, but also, Carnegie discovers that Eli has the book he’s been searching for and a hot pursuit and blood bath ensues. Not that I want to be a spoiler here, but can you guess who the badass is? I’ll give you a clue, Gary Oldman isn’t much of an action hero star.

MY THOUGHTS: Well, I should probably start that I may be biased. I really can’t stand apocalypse and post-apocalyptic films. Maybe it’s because personally, if the world is ending, I would want to go with it. No one wants to live in a world of anarchy, and where you may or may not be hunted for food. Personally, wouldn’t care to become the new Red Robin Bacon Tiffany burger. But regardless, I try to keep an open mind with every film that I watch.

The movie is highly entertaining with its twist on the mission at hand. Unlike, The Road with Viggo Mortensen, (I’m about to spoil “The Road,” so if you intend on seeing “The Road,” skip ahead) where their mission was to get to the coast, and then Viggo dies. I mean, really? Yeah, it was boring, and it was BAAAAAAD. BUT The Book of Eli doesn’t have that component of you needing to check your watch every 10 minutes. Again, it has lots of action, lots of Denzel Washington kicking ass with a machete, and with a concrete goal other than just travelling.

The only issue I take with this film is that I have a hard time believing that it has taken Eli 30 years to get to Carnegie’s town. I get that it’s on foot, but I can walk 4 miles in an hour. It’s roughly 3108 miles from San Francisco to Boston, MA. If I were to walk roughly 8 hours a day at 4 miles an hour, I would get to Boston in roughly 97 days. HOW does it take Eli 30 YEARS??!

But overall, it was entertaining. The twist in the end is an eyebrow raiser. Karma wins, and Carnegie gets what he deserves which always gives me a fuzzy feeling, and the cast is very well picked. Each major player played their part very well.

THE VERDICT: Not quite the nuclear bomb, but was explosive enough. Worth seeing in the theaters, but don’t know if I’ll purchase it when it comes out on DVD.