DVD Reviews

The Book of Eli

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Denzel Washington
• Details: US/TBC (15A)

A post apocalyptic action-fest with a religious tint, The Book of Eli marks a return to celluloid for The Hughes Brothers after 2001's choppy Jack the Ripper effort, From Hell. With a leading man in the affable, but searingly charismatic Denzel Washington, this hyper-stylised production tries to inject some innovation into a sub-genre that has become increasingly frequent lately. This is basically a Western, with an atypical machete-wielding hero leading the way.
Washington is Eli, a lone traveller who has spent 30 years walking about America after a nuclear war destroyed the majority of the human race - which has now regressed to incessant looting, raping, thieving and killing. He knows only that he must head west, and stay on "the path", protecting the priceless book that he is carrying at all costs. But when he comes across a ramshackle town run by Gary Oldman's quasi-mayor, he finds that his cherished possession is in demand, and Oldman will do anything he can to get his hands on it. Luckily, Eli has spent the majority of his time on the road honing his self-defence skills enough to make Jason Bourne look like a geriatric ping pong enthusiast.
Credit must be given to the filmmakers here for their noble attempts to inject some innovation into a movie they could've sleepwalked through on action alone. The obvious, but smart parallels with religion, but more decisively fate, are what separate this blockbuster from the current group of 'end of the world' epics. It also helps that Washington plays Eli which such utter conviction and class; and well, he kicks a hell of a lot of ass.
Although there is undoubted originality at the core of the story, some of the supporting characters and villains aren't given as notable treatment. You've seen the majority of them before, and The Hughes Brothers seem content to rehash nasty bastard henchmen from countless other apocalypse films. Also, it completely loses its way the final third, with a twist that is nowhere as smart as it thinks it is, that leaves plot holes the size of the crater where the bomb that started all this must've went off.
Still visually stunning, with exceptional action and a typically engaging presence from Washington, this is an almost always entertaining hour and a half.

Review by Mike Sheridan