In sun-drenched, not-too-distant future of “The Book of Eli’,” some 30 years after a war “ripped a hole in the sky” (wars in the future are way more poetic), a solitary man walks across the wasteland that was once America, scavenging for the bare necessities and washing himself with those tiny, individually packaged wet naps you get at KFC. He is armed with an IPod, designer shades, a pristine-condition hipster Al-Qaeda scarf, and a big-ass-fucking knife that would make Jason Voorhees weak in the knees with jealousy.
While amusing elements like those in no way ruin the film, they in fact lend to the junky, bric-a-brac charm that occasionally arises. But these same details perhaps speak to the qualities of a film that mostly resembles the unthinking man’s “The Road.”
Not particularly engaging, fairly uninspired and largely generic (like the post-apocalyptic future, the post-apocalyptic genre seems to have been scraped together from debris from past films), the Hughes Brothers’ “The Book of Eli” — their first film in nine years — is a largely by-the-numbers future-gone-wrong actioner, one that’s steeped in broad splashes of violence and quasi-philosophical contemplations but one in which the three of the comic book tableaux trumps any, you know, deep thoughts. It is, after all, a Joel Silver production.
The Hughes Brothers began their career with the arresting gang drama “Menace II Society” (despite coming after “Boyz In The Hood,” it’s a sharper, more nuanced film) and even though their follow-up, the flawed, but slickly engaging “Dead Presidents” wasn’t perfect, they still displayed a talent for filmmaking and a knack for mixing stylish set pieces with thoughtful social commentary. But then they got sucked into the all-too-alluring world of big budget Hollywood, throwing their hat into the ring with 2001’s gorgeous-but-hollow period slasher “From Hell.” It’s unclear why it took them another nine years to get something off the ground, though apparently they had a small falling out and went their separate ways for a period. Whether the studio experience left them rattled or they were just looking for some new big-ass production to try to wrangle, here they are again, with another studio movie maintaining the stylishness that helped launch their career but forgoing any of the personal, insightful, or intelligent stuff.
And, to be honest, it’s the same stylishness that gives the movie any of its barely-moving pulse. They know how to shoot action sequences with wit and verve, and have photographed “Book of Eli” using the digital RED camera (the same one that shot “Che” and “District 9”), which gives the movie an even more washed out look, as if the colors have been bled out of the world with everything else.
Still, the meatier stuff essential to the core drama of the movie (about a man, lost in this wild world, surviving with his faith alone) largely falls flat. Part of this has to do with the rigidity with which the movie adheres to the Western genre template. The man with no name (Denzel Washington), washes up in a lawless town, looking to bring some semblance of order, mostly through stoicism and fight scenes where he lobs peoples’ heads off with the aforementioned super knife. Carnegie (a serpentine Gary Oldman) is the corrupt official that has the dusty town under his thumb. And it’s up to our hero to restore order and faith. It’s pretty much every western ever, as well as being pretty similar to the plot of “Road House.” Nice.
It was always said that one director (Allen Hughes) worked with the actors, while the other (Albert Hughes) focused on the visuals. While it might feel like therefore Allen is the weak-link in the duo, the main culprit of this vehicle is a tired and enervating script (penned by Gary Whitta, the editor-in-chief of PC Gamer with ‘Eli’ as his only published screen credit). In fact one of the film’s other big issues is that it says absolutely nothing new — it is so bland it can barely justify its existence or even its place in the well-worn genre (At one point there’s an entire scene where Denzel sits in front of a wall adorned with a poster for the overlooked 1974 post-apocalyptic gem “A Boy and His Dog.”)
Still, easygoing, non-discerning audiences (and numerous mouth-breathing film blog geeks) will probably be fairly satisfied with the “Badass” Denzel Washington character sent on a vaguely defined mission from god (or the voices in his head) to deliver a sacred text to the west coast where some possible salvation for humanity evidently lies.
The book he carries (spoiler, though total non-spoiler, its in every synopsis) is not filled with delicious recipes from Martha Stewart’s cookbook, no the text is the last remaining King James Bible which is apparently coveted by those who seek power and influence with the sway of the good book. The element of the tome’s power is actually one of the movie’s more interesting (and thorny) theological issues, since one character makes mention that the war that killed everyone could have been a religious conflict started by that very book.
You have to make a huge leap of (pardon the pun) faith on this plot conceit since no one can really read and most people over 50 are dead. Gary Oldman’s dandy, slithering villain (also one-note and totally hammy) is the one guy who covets the book, since he thinks he can use it to hold sway over his constituents and help him build more townships. He’s the rare living person who grew up with the bible and knows its power (and of course since Eli’s been walking around for 30 years he’s eventually going to run into the dude who craves his bible right?)
As Denzel’s companion, Mila Kunis is sorely miscast and mismatched next to the titan who mostly feels like he’s sleepwalking through the performance (it seems like he’s just waiting for his next Tony Scott joint). Her character transformation from meek slave girl to Denzel-like badass is also just laughable. By the time the movie ends she looks more like Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor than the cutie from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”
Similar to Don Burgess’ aforementioned cinematography is the slow burning and slightly non-traditional score (by Atticus Ross, a producer/musician who collaborated with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails) that sounds like layering washes of ambient soaked guitars mixed in with burning lava. It’s interesting aurally, and different from what you might expect, but there’s little cinematic absolution in it and it grates just as often as it dazzles or surprises.
There’s also a dopey twist towards the end (which we won’t reveal — fear not) that is also far less clever than it thinks it is. The reveal is framed by lingering shots that are admittedly quite striking but doesn’t add any oomph to the tension of the reveal (in itself kind of a groaner). But strong writing is never ‘Eli’s strong suit so the hammy ending is probably just apropos and we suppose we can’t bemoan the Hughes’ brothers trying to make silk purse from a sow’s ear.
“The Book of Eli” ultimately tries to play itself off as a humanist, part spiritual tale about hope in the face of darkness. In big bold letters, it tells us that with a little faith, the lord will eventually lead humanity to the light. But let’s face it, it’s really more of an excuse to let Denzel kick ass in a cool-looking apocalyptic world while formerly distinguished English actors occasionally walk by in distracting cameos (Michael Gambon, Malcolm McDowell; Tom Waits also makes a cameo).
Those seeking any kind of cinematic salvation will find only pulpy boilerplate allegories that may lead to a crisis of faith in mainstream thrillers. Then again, it’s a January release. Anything more would be a miracle. [C-] — Drew Taylor