Review: THE BOOK OF ELI

The Hughes Brothers, Albert and Allen, return from a nine year hiatus from feature filmmaking to give us their entry into the post-apocalyptic pool of stories. THE BOOK OF ELI is the Hughes Brothers’ follow up film to FROM HELL, which dates back to 2001. No, THE BOOK OF ELI has nothing to do with FROM HELL, but it does show a certain loosely interpreted fascination the filmmaking siblings have for timely tales of things not fully understood.

THE BOOK OF ELI was written by Gary Whitta, his first feature to be produced, drawing from and reveling in parallels to a very specific body of text. The story has Denzel Washington playing a mysterious wanderer named Eli, walking the country for many years on a path to the west. Carried with him is a book. Eli protects this book at all costs, meeting obstacles along his journey ranging from cannibalistic hijackers to motorcycle-riding bandits.

Despite how the film looks on the surface, THE BOOK OF ELI is not MAD MAX, nor is it THE ROAD of recent release. However, there are some basic thematic elements that it shares with those films. This is to be expected, given all three films deal directly with human life after a catastrophic event that wipes out most of the human race and life in general. There is also a familiar element of classic spaghetti westerns, with Washington serving as a new Man with No Name, except he has a name while dominating his numbered enemies.

The film opens quite slowly and poetically with Eli going about what is construed to be his daily routine. He walks, he hunts, he eats he reads and he sleeps. Eli lives a fairly simple and repetitive life, with the occasional violent encounter thrown in for good measure. This actually sets the pace and tone of THE BOOK OF ELI, which has unfortunately and misleadingly been marketed as an action-packed carnival of carnage. As I mentioned before, MAD MAX this is not. And, for those who have seen THE ROAD, it is not that either. In fact, THE BOOK OF ELI is a great mix of what makes both films enjoyable.

The beauty of THE BOOK OF ELI is in the story and lies in what is read between the lines. The underlying moral of the story will become evident rather quickly, but it’s the adaptation to a contemporary sense of moral ambiguity and a less black and white interpretation of good and evil that make it unique. Eli follows what he believes to be good and right, seeking a place to properly share the message he carries, while a local self-made leader named Carnegie seeks out the very book Eli carries to obtain power and control.

Carnegie, played by Gary Oldman, is a well-read and intelligent man; an older man like Eli, surrounded by the younger and ignorant generation of people born after “the flash” as it is referred in the movie. While Eli lives a life of solitude, Carnegie has surrounded himself by these younger degenerates, using his intellect to manipulate them to his will as he seeks out the sacred book. As always, Gary Oldman is a cinematic treat. Carnegie is portrayed as a less-neurotic, Southern version of Stansfield from LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL with the appeal of a morally corrupt televangelist, interested more in the sinful benefits of instilling faith amongst the sheep he intends to lead.

Mila Kunis plays the young tart Solara, enslaved by Carnegie for her naturally endowed characteristics, while Carnegie holds her blind mother hostage to bend her will in his favor. Kunis is not going to win any awards or garner critical acclaim, but she does the job as the wild card in the struggle between Eli and Carnegie. I have to admit; she is gradually beginning to shed the skin of Jackie from THE 70’s SHOW. Rounding out the cast are Ray Stevenson (PUNISHER: WAR ZONE) as Carnegie’s reliable right-hand man and Michael Gambon (HARRY POTTER) as George. Tom Waits also offers up a second wonderful character performance this year, this time as the town engineer employed by Carnegie within his little growing shanty town of misfits and hooligans.

Aside from the performances from Washington, Oldman and elements of the supporting cast, THE BOOK OF ELI is also rich in production value. Most significantly, the score demands attention. With original music composed by Atticus Ross, from the very opening sequence in the film it serves a powerfully present purpose in the film. Ross has worked with such artists as Bad Religion, Rancid and nine years with Nine Inch Nails, which has clearly had an influence on the score for THE BOOK OF ELI. The cinematography by Don Burgess (SPIDER-MAN, FORREST GUMP) is also worth mentioning as moody and descriptive, but doesn’t match up to the visual storytelling in THE ROAD from Javier Aguirreesarobe.

What stands out visually in THE BOOK OF ELI is the editing by Cindy Mollo. As I mentioned before, this is not an action film, but the scenes that required action and fight choreography are stellar in their effectiveness. Each of the handful of hand-to-hand combat sequences featured in the film are fluid and precise, cutting seamlessly to allow a continuous flow of action without relying on a lingering array of stationary camera shots. One scene in particular during a massive shoot-out features the best editing, giving the impression of one epic continuous shot and greatly enhances the adrenaline of the scene.

Overall, THE BOOK OF ELI is a rather slowly paced film compared to the widely marketed trailer. This is not a negative, but instead a surprising reason to see the film and appreciate it as more than just a big budget buffet of bad guys and explosions. There is an element of convenience and suspension of disbelief that is required, but I have to admit I didn’t recognize it fully until after the movie ended. Be sure to watch THE BOOK OF ELI closely, allow yourself to absorb the subtle intricacies and you’ll leave the theater with a heightened appreciation for the film in some very satisfying and surprising ways.