ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Of all the post-apocalyptic movies ever made, from "Mad Max" to "I Am Legend", this one is definitely the strangest.

If you haven't seen it, you shouldn't read any further. And if you saw the movie and loved it . . . well, forgive me Lord, for I'm about to sin.

Or at least step on some toes. That said, here we go.

Denzel Washington roams the desolate land of the Midwest, thirty years after a nuclear war ruined everybody's day, and he's on a mission for God.

Maybe.

He says a voice told him to take a very old book to the west coast, and he ain't lettin' hell or high water stop him. The voice also told him he'd be protected during the journey and he'd be able to kick the holy crap out of anybody who messed with him.

The book turns out to be the last copy of the all-time number one best seller on the planet. All the other copies were intentionally destroyed after the war, for reasons not made clear.

The climax involves Denzel making it to California where a printing press still exists and a group of people intends to save the last Bible from being lost.

My reaction to this movie was . . . well, less than reverent. I kept thinking what an odd thing God seemed to be doing, allowing all the Bibles to be destroyed and then giving Denzel special fighting skills so he could kill anybody who slowed him down while he was en route to the coast with the last Bible in the world.

Excuse me, but that's just bad planning. This isn't my kind of story I guess.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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For all the brethren who still haven't seen the light (or this movie), we offer this inspirational trailer to help you make a truly righteous decision about whether or not to watch it.

Feel free to share your feelings on the matter afterwards, brothers — if the spirit moves you.

Amen.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[MetroPolly]

Well, ordinarily I avoid religious discussions, as it tends to lead to arguments. However, I have to say, most movies with a religious bent tend to have a streak of "bad planning" which ends up being a plot point.

Kinda like those people who believe in the rapture and all that stuff. Everybody left on the planet has to suffer until we get rescued by the Man Upstairs. Seems a bit like grandstanding, IMHO.

BTW, I happen to practice Zen, myself.

[orzel-w]

[The Spike]

The Book of Eli is directed by The Hughes Brothers and written by Gary Whitta. It stars Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson and Jennifer Beales. Music is by Atticus Ross and photography by Don Burgess.

The story is set thirty years after a nuclear war and finds Washington as Eli, who is traveling on foot across the desolated landscape to the West of the United States to deliver a sacred book. It's a journey fraught with danger, more so when a stopover in what remains of a town brings him into contact with self appointed town leader Carnegie (Oldman).

Carnegie seeks the book that Eli is guarding with his life.

Post apocalypse movies have had a good run over the years, it's a theme that holds a morbid interest to film makers and film watchers alike. The Hughes Brothers have attempted to give this particular strand some new life by blending the sombre tone of something like Viggo Mortensen starer in, The Road, with Mad Max violence.

A blend, it has to be said, that doesn't come totally off as Eli is in turns a "God fearing" man of few words, and then a Kali martial artist laying waste to apocalyptic rapists and thieves.

Further problems arise with the miscasting of Kunis — a good actress who looks yummy supreme here. But that's half the problem; she just doesn't look right in this apocalyptic set-up, while some of the daftness that comes with her character arc is barely palatable.

However, if accepting it on its two fold terms, this movies is great as a mood piece and fun as an actioner!

Washington is such a watchable star, someone who can lift an average film to better heights. Although this is not one of those average films, he has a commitment to the role of Eli that gives it a believability factor that few modern day actors in the same age group can.

Having Oldman as the bad guy is invariably a good thing, and he duly delivers another memorable one, while there's an amusing couple of cameos from Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour as a husband and wife duo with issues.

The look and sound of the film is also impressive, with Ross (co-soundtrack collaborator The Social Network) and the Hughes' scoring it industrial like. Burgess (Forrest Gump/Cast Away/Source Code) captures a graphic novel like beauty from the back drop of devastation.

With a couple of genuine surprises up its sleeve, this film can't be faulted for lacking ideas. The Brothers are to be applauded for not delivering the same old apocalyptic-based picture.

But it's difficult to accept a bleak message movie when the action is so outrageously fun. I liked it very much, but not in the way I had originally hoped. You pays your money and takes your chance!

Besides, Denz and Gaz are worth the punt anyway. 7/10
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The quality of mercy is not strnen.