The Book of Eli

Denzel Washington joins Charlton Heston, Will Smith, Viggo Mortenson, Vincent Price, Woody Harrelson, Mel Gibson, Wall-E, Mel Ferrer and Harry Belafonte by making a post-apocalyptic movie and its a GOOD one!

Denzel Washington plays Eli, a loner who is determined to walk his way across the US to get to the west coast. Along the way he encounters bandit gangs and holdup men but he proves more than capable of being able to defend himself.

He stops in a little town in search of water and a recharge for his Ipod battery, There he encounters Carnagie (Gary Oldman) a small town dictator who rules with an iron fist. He's obsessed with finding a certain book with which he hopes to eventually take over the world. After seeing him take out an entire gang single handedly in his bar Carnagie tries to hire Eli and even tries to seduce him by sending him the comely Solara (Mila Kunis!) but Eli will have none of it. He has his mission to complete. When Carnagie discovers Eli may already possess the book he seeks he goes after him with a grim determination in which there can be only one victor.

Written by Gary Whitta

Directed by Albert and Allen, the Hughes Brothers

Great choice of a role for Denzel Washington who too often lately seems to be falling into the Harrison Ford trap of playing parts where he is forced into action to "save his family". Bah. We don't want that crap from guys like Denzel and Harrison! We want action loners like Eli. Like Han Solo. Like Indiana Jones. Like Dirty Harry and the Man with No Name. In this movie you get it.

Washington handles all the action deftly while giving his character a great sense of mystery. We want to know more about the mysterious Eli. Gary Oldman is back to playing crazy but powerful bad guys and while he's good I kind of wondered how he got to be as powerful as he is. Yes, he knows where the water is. Yes, he can read. But it would seem any of his powerful henchmen, once learning where the water is, would kill him and take over. But that aside, he's effective.

Even more so is Mila Kunis as Solara. This movie is her coming out party! She is sexy yet vulnerable, wanton yet strong. While it does seem unbelievable that Eli or any man would refuse this vixen his bed, they kind of explain that in the ending so it all made sense.

Like "The Road" the future is seen as pretty empty and bleek. "The Book of Eli" also copies "The Road" in wisely not trying to explain what happened to change the world as we know it. It just happened. Now here's what happened after. Smart move. That way it doesn't get bogged down in politics or some stupid "green" message. Instead we get a smart action film that involves Christianity and for a change does not bash the religion. Instead like an old fashioned film, it embraces it. I like that.

The Hughes brothers add some nice little references scattered throughout the film. There is a poster for "A BHoy and His Dog" another post-apocalyptic film in Eli's room at the Orpheum; there are posters for "Hell's Angels" and "A Clockwork Orange" as well. Gary Whitta, former editor of PC Gamer wrote his first script here and its a good one. There are also brief appearances by Jennifer Beals, Michael Gambon, Tom Waits and Malcolm (Clockwork Orange) McDowell.

One thing they did blunder on in The Book of Eli: teeth. I've noticed in many Hollywood pictures no matter how grungy and dirty the world is, the stars still have gleaming white teeth. In this film Carnagie finds what might be the last bottle of shampoo in the world. If that's even close to being true, how much toothpaste or whiteners would be available in a post apocalyptic world? My guess: very little. Denzel's teeth should be dull and greenish. Kind of like that last "Hulk" movie.

No, you won't have any trouble guessing what the Book of Eli's is, but I think you also won't have any trouble enjoying this fine action end of the world film.