Movie Review: The Book of Eli

In the future, the world has experienced a catastrophe. As a result, the land is barren and there is scarcity of food and water. In this post apocalyptic world, Eli(Denzel Washington) is on a mission. He walks towards west determinedly. During his journey, he encounters dead towns and also marauders. Eli’s unique fighting and survival skills helps him fend off the attackers and also survive in adverse conditions.

Carnegie(Gary Oldman) controls a town. He, the only literate in the town, has built the town because he knew the source of water. He also knows other sources of water and hence he plans to build similar cities elsewhere. Eventually, he wants to control all these towns. But, he also realizes that it is not easy to command. So, he is in search of the last remaining copy of King James Bible. Using the verses from  Bible, Carnegie plans to control the minds of the people. Till now, his gang of thugs has not been able to retrieve the Bible.

Eli arrives in the city for charging his portable battery. While waiting for his battery in the local pub, Carnegie’s henchmen pick up a fight with Eli. In the ensuing fight, Eli kills everyone. As a result, Carnegie realizes Eli to be special and requests him to stay back. Carnegie also arranges food and shelter for Eli. Eli has one night to decide. Carnegie also tries to influence Eli through Solara(Mila Kunis) who is the daughter of Carnegie’s blind concubine(Jennifer Beals). When Solara enters Eli’s room, she finds him reading a bible. Very soon, Carnegie and Eli are at loggerheads because of the Bible. The rest of the story tells us how the Bible survives and provides glimpses of what happened to the world.

The Hughes Brothers, Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes, directs this action movie set in the post apocalyptic world. Closely resembling I am Legend in the way story moves forward, the Hughes Brothers focuses on the new beginning after a disaster. In their story of rebuilding, the written word and also the religious book plays such an important role, making the audience have a dialogue with self. This is the strongest point of the movie. On the flip side, the movie takes it own sweet time for story to unfold during the initial 20 minutes.

Denzel Washington is perfect as Eli. He performs well in the action sequences and he leaves enough red herrings about him throughout the movie. Gary Oldman matches up with Denzel. Mila Klunis only have to look pretty in the rags and she does a good job. Michael Gambon and Malcolm McDowell provides a wow factor to the movie although they have nothing much to offer in this action movie.

Be prepared for the slow 20 minutes when the movie opens up! The rest is enjoyable.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: ***

Tags: Movies,Denzel Washington,Gary Oldman,Mila Kunis,Jennifer Beals,Hughes Brothers,Albert Hughes,Allen Hughes,Michael Gambon,Malcolm McDowell,Action