It's this kind of fun - part spaghetti western, part samurai film, part
opportunity to wander through a desolate landscape with loads of
cool looking ruins in the background - that The Book of Eli delivers.
As
usual, the story revolves around a lone stranger (Denzel Washington)
roaming the wasteland on a quest, this time involving a mysterious book
which has a big crucifix on the cover so no prizes for guessing what it
might be. It seems that after the war that "tore a hole in the sky" and
turned the world into a barren sepia-toned wasteland, people blamed
whatever book it is Eli's carrying and destroyed all the copies,
leaving his the last one in the whole world. Unfortunately, Eli
wanders into a wild west-esque town run by pretty much the only other
person alive (a scenery-chewing Gary Oldman) who knows what book it is
he is carrying, and he wants to use it to unite the people of the
wasteland under his rule.
The religious angle often threatens to
become, well, preachy, but in the end there is just enough of a range of
opinions about the power and worth of The Book to prevent Book of Eli from
being uncomfortably strident in its views. Another potential
problem is a skilfully executed final twist that recasts the entire
film in a different light, but it is fully in keeping with The Book of Eli's
genre origins and helps to point out that while this might look like a
serious and meaningful film, in reality it is just the best
direct-to-DVD-style post-apocalypse thriller ever made. The
action is well shot and gripping, Denzel Washington is a convincing badass,
everyone else hams it up like crazy and the whole thing looks great :
The Book of Eli is about as much fun as you can have at the end of the
world. DVD Special Features
Quite a few extras on offer here, including "Eli's Journey"
featurette, a few useless Deleted Scenes, plus a "The Book of Eli
Soundtrack" and "Starting Over" featurette.
Pretty average effort all round!
Conclusion:
Movie 50% Extras: 50%
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