The end of the world is a popular topic these days as religions predict it and people with faith believe in it. Some say the world will see a war, others say a cataclysmic weather pattern will torch the earth, and some think a viral attack will kill millions, but we are all fascinated with it. This year we've had plenty of films about the end of the world and most haven't made the cut. The Book of Eli, is a nice effort trying to bring us a new world and a hopeful message but it falls flat in many respects.
Denzel Washington as the lead in this movie is the smartest move The Hughes Brothers went with while looking on who to cast for the film, Mr. Washington is cool, collect and has plenty of charisma to share with the rest of his cast. He actually makes this movie watchable; every scene he's in has an energy and there are moments in this movie that are so cool. Watching Denzel dismantle a group of bad guys in such a cool fashion never gets old; there is one moment in the movie where he turns a gun on a shop owner after the owner threatens to shoot him, but stringing a bunch of cool parts together does not justify for the bland story line. Nothing really happens in this movie, the catastrophe doesn't ever get explained and Denzel just walks around this baron landscape as the audience continuously wonders what this movie is really about. We know there is a special book, which is easily predicted as the bible, and a whole lot of wandering that is never warranted.
There are moments in this film that could've have been really fascinating but the writer clearly skimped out and would rather try and make the movie roll from scene to scene rather than taking one idea and fleshing it out. The part: when Eli (Washington) falls upon a house and he walks in and meets an old couple. At first they seem nice, the old lady offers him tea, and the man makes easy small talk with him. Then things slowly turn ugly; this lovely old couple trap people and kill them so that they can eat their bodies and survive, they are cannibals, this is terrifying but as soon as suspense is created it all goes away when it turns and a shootout. Moments like these could have made the movie so terrifying and exhilarating but the writer and directors seemed to take the easy way out. The action scenes in the movie were cool but it wasn't anything new to the genre and there was only really two big fight scenes. In between the fighting and the pithy one liner dialogue is a really boring road story.
The movie rolls on and during the entire feature all I was wondering was, "where is this movie going", and it didn't go really far, it was cool at times, and Denzel Washington did the best job he could carrying this dead weight. He was cool, the action was the cool, the story was bland and the twist, well i'm not a huge fan of a movie made just for a cool twist. The ending of this movie is amazing and powerful, but it is a real shame the rest of the film wasn't as amazing as the ending was. This is truly a snore fest that really didn't have to be made. The ending makes this movie watchable as does Mr. Washington. The Hughes Brother tried their best trying to swing for home run with this film and they almost did; they brought vibrance and a cool look but the films pacing is dull and I really would never watch this one again, A nice try, but a bland story never helps.
