There has been a glut of films set during or after the apocalypse lately, and this is another one.  This time around the old end-of-the-world bend we have The Hughes Brothers, perhaps best known for the urban drama Menace II Society, but known to genre fans as the team behind the Jack the Ripper thriller, From Hell.  In every film the Brothers have done, the last one way back in 2001, they have managed to create a world in which their stories unfold, and The Book of Eli is no different.

Occurring some 30 years after the cataclysm that has left the world a barren and inhospitable place, loner Eli (Denzel Washington) heads west, driven by a simple mission that guides his every step.  He must take a valuable book in his possession west where he will find a place where it is needed.  Assumedly, he will know the place when he arrives.  As he travels, he must defend himself and, occasionally, others, from bandits and highwaymen who scavenge the ruined land for water and food and any other supplies that may prove valuable in the wasteland villages.  Almost immediately, we see Eli in action, using a crazy machete to decapitate, disarm and disembowel his attackers.  

Eli finds himself in a semblance of a town run by the villainous Carnegie (Gary Oldman), an educated man surrounded by the illiterate and unwashed.  He is determined to find a book, one in particular, that will give him the power to expand his influence and create further settlements, all under his thumb.  Following a bloody bar brawl, Carnegie forces Eli to stay, and discovers that Eli carries the very book for which Carnegie searches, but Eli is elusive and slips into the wastes, along with Carnegie’s step-daughter Solara (Mila Kunis).  

Following a bloody bar brawl, Carnegie forces Eli to stay, and discovers that Eli carries the very book for which Carnegie searches, but Eli is elusive and slips into the wastes, along with Carnegie’s step-daughter Solara (Mila Kunis).  

Eli must protect both the book and Solara from Carnegie and his men as they are pursued across the desert, finding some respite in the home of George and Martha (Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour), the friendliest cannibals you’re ever likely to meet.  Eli intends to deliver this book for the sake of hope and Carnegie intends to weild it as a weapon, leaveing many dead, more maimed, and this viewer ultimately disappointed.

Without digressing into details of the plot, which will spoil the surprise for many, allow me to say there is a turn of the story in the final scenes which render much of the film unbelievable, even within the context of the world created.  I have no issue with a film that uses suspension of disbelief.  There is no such thing as Spiderman, or Doctor Octopus, but, when I view Spiderman 2 I can buy into the proceedings because the rules created for the film are followed throughout.  The biggest problem with The Book of Eli is that it creates a new rule far too late in the film to be acceptable and far too incongruous to be swallowed whole.  Rather than focus on the final frames of the film, the plot twist had me revisiting earlier scenes with a “Wait a second, but what about-?” posture, something unnecessary to an otherwise strong film.

Make no mistake, this is a movie made by true cinematic artisans, who have manufactred a convincing world, some very interesting characters wonderfully played by Oldman and Washington, in particular (though Kunis looks too clean, too pretty to be part of this world), and a visual aesthetic that is consistent and consistently entertaining.  The central them of the film, that of the same ideology able to be used as both balm and totalitarian tool, is engaging, but is undone by the ridiculousness of the reveal.  There are those who will be abe to look past the silliness of this twist, even see it as an extension of theme, but I don’t buy it.  In fact, it makes me angry that this unnecessary twist exists within the film at all.

Rather than focus on the final frames of the film, the plot twist had me revisiting earlier scenes with a “Wait a second, but what about-?” posture, something unnecessary to an otherwise strong film.

Make no mistake, this is a movie made by true cinematic artisans, who have manufactured a convincing world, some very interesting characters wonderfully played by Oldman and Washington, in particular (though Kunis looks too clean, too pretty to be part of this world), and a visual aesthetic that is consistent and consistently entertaining.  The central them of the film, that of the same ideology able to be used as both balm and totalitarian tool, is engaging, but is undone by the ridiculousness of the reveal.  There are those who will be able to look past the silliness of this twist, even see it as an extension of theme, but I don’t buy it.  In fact, it makes me angry that this unnecessary twist exists within the film at all.

Still, there is a lot of good here, and I recommend it on that basis.  If the twist works for you, you’ll probably really enjoy The Book of Eli.  For me, it’s an also-ran that could have been a real winner.