The Book of Eli (2010)

 

Denzel Washington ànd Gary Oldman in one film? In a post-apocalyptic setting? How could you go wrong?

Well, you can go wrong in the way that this is a decent film, but also rather underwhelming. But it does start off in a great way.

Decades after probably a nuclear war, we find Denzel as Eli, a drifter who wanders the barren landscape, always heading west and guarding a book that is special to him. He is also a badass with a sort of machete, as he has to fend off scavengers, rogues and bandits. But when he comes across a town where Oldman is in charge, things start to go awry. See, Oldman's character wants his bandits to find books, but he is after one specific book (which is not revealed at first, but you can very soon puzzle together that he is talking about the bible). Of course, Oldman wants to use it as a weapon of words, whereas Eli wants to keep it safe for those who deserve it and who will use it in a good way. 

Eli escapes and is soon joined by Solara (Mila Kunis), the daughter of a woman Oldman keeps as his spouse, but who is in fact a slave. They try to keep away from the gang who is chasing them, but they are captured and the book is taken. Solara escapes with a wounded Eli and heads all the way west to Alcatraz Island, where some remnants of civilisation are being gathered, especially texts of all sorts. 

What is the catch, seeing as Eli no longer has his book? The bible he reads is in braille, as Eli is blind and so Oldman's character can't do anything with it. 

So take that, you evil, evil overlord hellbent on domination!

There are a couple of things this film does right. The cinematography is excellent, even if the filters they use make everything this dull greyish blue. But it makes the brightness almost too much, and seeing as everyone wears sunglasses outside because otherwise the sun burns out their eyesight, this makes sense. Mila Kunis as Solara is good and sometimes, you get the feeling she doesn't get nearly enough credit for her acting chops. But who takes the cake is Denzel Washington as badass Eli. It makes you wonder why he never went for a role of this kind before. Okay, maybe it's not Oscar-material, but he is great as the postapocalyptic warrior with a purpose. It's his Mad Max-role and it fits him to a T. 

But unfortunately, there are downsides as well. Gary Oldman is pretty useless as the bad guy. He is phoning it in, as we've seen this psychotic performance of him all too often before and he just isn't engaging enough as the big bad. Neither is Ray Stevenson as his henchman, which is a shame, because these are great actors if they want to go all the way. 

But it's mostly the pacing and lack of investment from the viewer that makes this all feel flat. The film starts off really strong, but then rapidly evolves into a pretty average post-apocalyptic thing everyone has seen a million times before. It's okay and passable, but that's it. Honestly, the religious metaphors don't bother that much, but it does get preachy at times, but the film lacks some better pacing and especially captivating scenes. I mean, the encounter with the elderly couple who turn out to be cannibals is fun, but way too short. 

So in the end, 'The Book of Eli' is okay, but that's it. You could watch it if you have some spare time, but don't expect anything special.