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Saturday, February 27, 2010
The Book of Eli (2010)
Posted on 2:28 PM by Paolo
'The Book of Eli' Review
By Paolo Sardinas
Lately we have had a huge surge in post-apocalyptic films. Whether its the bleak and deserted feel of John Hillcoat's The Road or the bombastic end of the world drunken on CGI like in 2012. Yes, we have seen our fair share as of late but the latest is a mix of action and religion, philosophy and typical end of the world, roving biker gangs, ala Road Warrior which find Denzel Washington as a man whose on a quest. Now granted its the middle of January so no one is expecting any cinematic achievements, but as hard as I tried to enjoy this supposed "action thriller" for what it is and not focus on the negatives, the truth is that there are so many that its hard not to.
Alan and Albert Hughes, a.k.a The Huges Brothers, direct The Book of Eli which takes place in the previously mentioned post-apocalyptic wasteland which is roamed by biker gangs, thieves, and thats about it. Its been thirty years since the "flash" that wiped out the entire populations and practically destroyed Earth. Denzel comes across a shanty little town, while heading down west, which is governed by Carnegie (the always entertaining Gary Oldman). He hangs out in his bar/brothel thing that all of the bikers come in to have a drink, or two. It turns out that Carnegie is looking for a book, a very important book I might add which has great power. Well it just so happens that Eli is caring that book and happens to be carrying the book. After Eli refuses to hand the book over Carnegie chases after him and we get gun fights, explosions, and cannibalistic old people.
The Hughes Brothers shoot everything a very monochromatic style which features some slow-motion. The only problem is that we've seen it again and again and again. The same cliches that appear time and time again in other films are abundant throughout The Book of Eli's run. It all feels old, wasted, and totally unoriginal.
Rather than continuing the story line throughout the entire film, whatever storyline it had, the film becomes weighed down by its third act which focuses on everything faith related. Now its not necessarily a bad thing seeing as how it could make sense. But the problem with it is that it never really grasps your attention. It just all lies by as more philosophical mumbo jumbo in a slow moving, and depressing, action flick. And since the entire film is set up with the logic that Eli is a complete bad-ass, nothing can stop him, he'll whip your ass with his machete, that once the film reaches it's supposed "twist ending" anything that happened before turns out to make no sense whatsoever.
Both Washington and Oldman do the best with what they have. Which is virtually nothing. Oldman has most of the lines and while being a bit over the top still manages to entertain, like he always does. Washington however has virtually no lines, or at least less than what you expect him to have. He does his best trying to convey some kind of emotion towards this character. But the real scene stealer is a quick appearance by Michael Gambon as an old man who along with his wife, played by Frances de la Tour who not only kill but also eat their visitors. They actually make the scene worth watching as it leads to one big action sequences which is, ideally, the only real action sequences throughout the film. One long continuous shot that goes on for a little bit long than it should have but is nonetheless one of the only positives in the film.
The Book of Eli ends up being one big stylized action film thats just as weak on its story as it is on its use of color. The Biblical references and the entire theme about faith that literally consumes the entire third act of the film was a bit of waste since nothing can really save the previous forty five minutes that was already endured.
Lately we have had a huge surge in post-apocalyptic films. Whether its the bleak and deserted feel of John Hillcoat's The Road or the bombastic end of the world drunken on CGI like in 2012. Yes, we have seen our fair share as of late but the latest is a mix of action and religion, philosophy and typical end of the world, roving biker gangs, ala Road Warrior which find Denzel Washington as a man whose on a quest. Now granted its the middle of January so no one is expecting any cinematic achievements, but as hard as I tried to enjoy this supposed "action thriller" for what it is and not focus on the negatives, the truth is that there are so many that its hard not to.
Alan and Albert Hughes, a.k.a The Huges Brothers, direct The Book of Eli which takes place in the previously mentioned post-apocalyptic wasteland which is roamed by biker gangs, thieves, and thats about it. Its been thirty years since the "flash" that wiped out the entire populations and practically destroyed Earth. Denzel comes across a shanty little town, while heading down west, which is governed by Carnegie (the always entertaining Gary Oldman). He hangs out in his bar/brothel thing that all of the bikers come in to have a drink, or two. It turns out that Carnegie is looking for a book, a very important book I might add which has great power. Well it just so happens that Eli is caring that book and happens to be carrying the book. After Eli refuses to hand the book over Carnegie chases after him and we get gun fights, explosions, and cannibalistic old people.
The Hughes Brothers shoot everything a very monochromatic style which features some slow-motion. The only problem is that we've seen it again and again and again. The same cliches that appear time and time again in other films are abundant throughout The Book of Eli's run. It all feels old, wasted, and totally unoriginal.
Rather than continuing the story line throughout the entire film, whatever storyline it had, the film becomes weighed down by its third act which focuses on everything faith related. Now its not necessarily a bad thing seeing as how it could make sense. But the problem with it is that it never really grasps your attention. It just all lies by as more philosophical mumbo jumbo in a slow moving, and depressing, action flick. And since the entire film is set up with the logic that Eli is a complete bad-ass, nothing can stop him, he'll whip your ass with his machete, that once the film reaches it's supposed "twist ending" anything that happened before turns out to make no sense whatsoever.
Both Washington and Oldman do the best with what they have. Which is virtually nothing. Oldman has most of the lines and while being a bit over the top still manages to entertain, like he always does. Washington however has virtually no lines, or at least less than what you expect him to have. He does his best trying to convey some kind of emotion towards this character. But the real scene stealer is a quick appearance by Michael Gambon as an old man who along with his wife, played by Frances de la Tour who not only kill but also eat their visitors. They actually make the scene worth watching as it leads to one big action sequences which is, ideally, the only real action sequences throughout the film. One long continuous shot that goes on for a little bit long than it should have but is nonetheless one of the only positives in the film.
The Book of Eli ends up being one big stylized action film thats just as weak on its story as it is on its use of color. The Biblical references and the entire theme about faith that literally consumes the entire third act of the film was a bit of waste since nothing can really save the previous forty five minutes that was already endured.
Grade: D
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