The Book of Eli

The Book of Eli

Starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman

Directors Albert and Allen Hughes

MPAA: Rated R for some brutal violence and language.

Sex/Nudity – There is one rape scene very far off in the distance. The woman screams a lot as three men surround her. After words you can kind of see her dead body in the back ground. There is an attempted rape that is stopped. There is also a bar/ brothel where women in revealing outfits walk around and flirt with men. One girl is sent in to a man’s room with the intention that she will have sex with him, he denies her and they spend the evening talking.

Violence/Gore – There are a lot of bloody fight scenes with spraying blood and decapitated heads and arms. There are a lot of references to cannibals and in one scene a couple try to seduce another couple into their home for the purpose of eating them.

Language/Profanity – 10 or so “F” words and a few other swear words.

I was still suffering the after effects of Avatar and needed an intellectually stimulating action film to fill the void, so I convinced my wife to come with me to a late night showing of The Book of Eli. She had her doubts about a post-apocalyptic world where a man is trying to preserve the bible, whil I on the other hand had great hopes for the Hughes brothers, having seen their earlier film From Hell with Johnny Depp. I knew the brothers had spent a long time working with this film and that Denzel not only acted but help produce the film.

I was not disappointed, and Heather, my wife, was pleased. This film delivers tense, brutal, violent action, while still engaging the audience in a gripping story. The pace is a little different then most action films. There is no intense climax and final duel where the hero brings the villains to justice. And while this would have been awesome to see, and probably could have made it a better film, the ending was so surprising and brilliant that it didn’t seem as necessary. It was not a perfect film but the ratio of violence to character development and plot was perfect to keep me engaged in the film.

One element to the film that was especially well done was the music. There was a haunting ring to it as Denzel traversed a barren war torn landscape. The gritty and dirty state of the people was matched by a beautiful and powerful soundtrack that added to the feeling of danger at every turn.




Denzel Washington was perfect for the part of Eli. He was a quiet humble man who also carried great power. He was the perfect lonely traveler, walking the earth protecting the last known bible, but when he meets Solara (Mila Kunis) a father daughter relationship develops that Washington seems to take to rather well. Contrasting Denzel’s humble and noble Eli, is Gary Oldman’s psychotic Carnegie. It was a little bit too much of a repeat from his role in The 5th Element but still fun to watch. Both actors play their roles well and the move is all the better for it.

The Book of Eli has an element of spirituality that is beautiful to watch. Eli walks by faith, believing that God will take him where he needs to be and protect him until he has fulfilled the work God has given him. I had chills of delight as the film went along and I could see the hand of God guiding Eli. Now I want to go see it again and see the subtleties I missed the first time around.



The only downside to the film, be sides the mildly anti climatic “final battle”, was the lack of character development. I wanted another hour of relationship building and action. I wanted a marathon of Eli’s trip and his adventures as he walks the earth. The high contrast filming had a desolate beauty that I could have watched for hours. Coupling that with a little more dialogue and more development would have taken this move from a B+ to an A+. It just felt a little too short, like we came in at the end of a long journey instead of taking the journey with Eli.

Over all this film is an easy 4 star movie, about and 8.6 out of 10. I loved it. This is a film I can really sink my teeth into.