Book of Eli

Book of Eli gave me a post-apocalyptic world populated by a badass Denzel Washington. All I can say to that is thank you. The story may not have been groundbreaking but it was done well and had a slick hidden twist at the end. And and and Denzel was chopping off limbs left and right.

Looking back, I can’t even remember the last time that Denzel was a physical badass. Eli was all about the stabbing and decapitating in one versus a dozen confrontations. It was nice to see something new from Denzel after decades of righteous man who consistently uses his words. Sometimes fists and sharp objects work just as well. On the flip side, Book of Eli was a nice reminder of the times when Gary Oldman used to be deranged bad guy in every film. I’m not saying Sirius Black and Commissioner Gordon are wastes of his talent; I love seeing him in those roles but giving me some insanity every few performances is not too much to ask. So you have two of my favorite actors and a female lead portrayed by Mila Kunis … wait what? Now she’s a movie star?

The plot is another variation on the post-apocalypse this time using the bible as the means to something … fix things? I’m not too sure what Eli was trying to accomplish beyond preserving the bible but he felt it was important and Oldman wanting to kill him for it so shut up and watch the movie. Now here is the point where I want to talk about the ending but I’ll be kind and not spoil things. But just to let you know Bruce Willis was dead the entire time. And Malcolm McDowell had really cool hair.

I was very satisfied with The Book of Eli. It had been awhile since The Hughes Brothers had shown up on the radar and to actually give Denzel something new to work with it was definitely worth the price of admission.

8 out of 10