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The Book of Eli is a helluva cool-looking movie, and for those of us with penchants for dark, creepy, end-of-the-world stories, it's nothing less than apocalyptic catnip. This Denzel Washington vehicle directed by The Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society, From Hell) is so heavy on tone and pace and feel that it's a blast just to sit through it. Yes, every loner-walking-through-nuclear-winter movie cliche is here in spades, but even if there's nothing inherently new in The Book of Eli, it's a regurgitation of tried and true narrative idioms that strike a chord, nevertheless.

Unlike the recent The Road, which had the brilliant reputation of Cormac McCarthy's novel to grapple with as it sent Viggo Mortensen and his kid on a journey through the hells of post-human America, The Book of Eli works wonders simply because, well, it's cool - between Denzel's steel-gazed lead performance and the movie's state-of-the-art utilization of special effects and production design, whether the movie's any good is pretty much incidental: The Book of Eli presents a cinematic world that is simply great to hang around in for a few hours.

Denzel wanders through much of the movie, a survivor of a time and place that has been shattered by a global upheaval of Armageddon-sized grandeur. But somehow the dude holds his head high, hoping beyond hope that his often aimless journey and the faith in his heart will be enough to buoy him up and over the Hell he continually experiences. Well, things go from bad to worse when he stumbles across a scary-ass man named Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a megalomaniacal creep who is convinced that a certain book will give him the bigger-than-life power he needs to not only be the most insanely powermad dictator in the cracked, broken village, but a force to be reckoned with from sea to shining sea.

And that's pretty much it. The Book of Eli never truly imparts any earth-shattering narrative or tonal nuance to its dusty, arid on-screen presence, but I, for one, didn't have much problem with that. There's a killer craftsmanship at work in this pensive, smoky film, and while I'd believe that multiple viewings might allow viewers an unfortunate chance to sober up to the movie's skin-deep presence, as a one-timer, The Book of Eli is a stunning achievement.

It's just cool.

Comments (4)

Patrick July 07, 2010

Loved it

Wife and I watched it OnDemand a few weeks back. Your review is spot on! Very dark film, wonderfully done by Denzel and Gary as well as the supporting cast. The end of the movie left me gasping for air. Visuals were amazing, sound was incredible and the acting was top-notch. Underrated film in my opinion. Should have done better in the theaters, but it's still a gem and now in my DVD collection.

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jose July 08, 2010

ready to

i havent watched the movie...yet. but soon i hope to cause it looks awesome and denzel washington is a great actor so i am going to see the movie soon!

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fashiongoods01 July 20, 2010

http://www.shoes2.us/

Here's Lindsay and her sister Benjamin Buttons making that easy money yesterday in Beverly Hills by posing and pretending to box at some Muscle Milk Light (aka the nectar that drips out of Chyna's urethra) event. Instead of punching that mitt, bitch should be punching herself....and

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Callum July 23, 2010

Never expected the ending.

Bought on Blu Ray and thought this movie rocked, I listen to a lot of the reviews and sometime wonder if they watched the same movie I did.
Don't want to give anything away but never expected the ending, but if you look back all the hints were there.
Great Movie.

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