The world has ended once again. In the past several months, it has been destroyed by zombies (Zombieland), vampires (Daybreakers), and Roland Emmerich (2012). This time around, we’re lucky enough to have Denzel Washington around to save us all. And if there’s anybody you want to have your back in a post-apocalyptic nightmare, it’s Denzel.
The landscape of Book of Eli has much in common with the recent Cormac McCarthy adaptation, The Road. This is a barren and desolate wasteland dotted by the rusting, abandoned husks of automobiles. Denzel is the archetypical hero of the Spaghetti Western. He is the mysterious, taciturn individual wandering what’s left of the world, armed with a machete and an iPod. He takes on the hijackers and cannibals who cross his path. He is the man with no name. Though the film is titled The Book of Eli, no one refers to him as such. The only reference is a tag in his backpack reading, “Hello, my name is Eli.” Some folks call him Walker because he walked into town.
Said town is ruled with an iron fist by the ruthless Carnegie, played with a villainous aplomb by Gary Oldman. He keeps his blind mistress Claudia (Jennifer Beals) under his thumb as well as her daughter Solara (Mila Kunis). Carnegie has his men searching the wastelands for a particular book and it becomes obvious he is on the hunt for a Bible. All known copies were destroyed following an alluded to war that decimated the world. Of course, Eli has it in his possession, reading it on a nightly basis.
As one of the only humans to remember what life was like before the end times, Carnegie knows the power of the book. He seeks to enthrall the masses with its words in order to rebuild the land in his image.
Rounding out the supporting cast are the Punisher Ray Stevenson as Carnegie’s right hand man, Michael Gambon and Francis de la Tour as elderly survivalists who’ve turned cannibal, and musician Tom Waits as a shopkeeper.
Don’t expect any deep philosophical debate about the influence of religion. Book of Eli has its feet firmly planted in the territory of genre film. It’s the kind of movie where Denzel quotes Scripture then decapitates a man with his machete. The Hughes Brothers debuted with the Boyz in the Hood contemporary, Menace II Society, but haven’t a film since From Hell, a poor adaptation of the Alan Moore comic which came out nearly a decade ago. While they’re keen on slow motion shots of Denzel striding confidently through a scene, the Hughes Brothers direct their action sequences with a strong hand. So many American directors chop action up into a jumbled mess with quick cuts, overly tight close-ups, and shaky cam. Here, the twin siblings allow us to actually see the fight scenes. The film’s first set piece is stylishly shot in silhouette with Denzel battling a gang of thugs underneath a bridge.
The script by Gary Whitta isn’t anything wildly innovate, but Denzel is charismatic enough that he could read the Yellow Pages for three hours and make it interesting. The same goes for Gary Oldman whose Carnegie is reminiscent of the crooked DEA agent from The Professional. Jennifer Beals and Mila Kunis look exceedingly gorgeous for two women living in a world without make-up or hair product, but I’m more than willing to accept that. What is hard to accept is the petite Kunis as badass, action heroine. It didn’t work in Max Payne (admittedly nothing worked in that damn movie) and it doesn’t quite work here. But, Denzel kicking ass for just under two hours is a more than satisfying experience.
Rating: ***
No comments:
Post a Comment