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Denzel Washington
stars in
The
Book of Eli,
an overlooked movie
that has a little
bit of everything.
Out of all of the
movies about
post-apocalyptic
events, this is the
one that’s worth
seeing the most and
one that everyone
can appreciate
despite their
background.
The movie follows a
mysterious loner-
Eli (Denzel
Washington) after
nuclear war has
demolished society.
The world that Eli
explores there’s no
evidence of humanity
in any human living.
Rape, murder, and
theft abound and
everyone is stuck on
survival and not on
advancement. Eli has
a task that he
understands that
he’s to do under
guidance from a
higher power. He has
in his possession a
book- a book that
will save humanity
and rebuild society.
It’s the only book
of its kind and he
has the task of
protecting it and
taking it where it
needs to go. The
thing is, Eli
doesn’t know where
it’s supposed to go.
All he knows is that
he’s supposed to
carry it west and
he’ll know where the
book goes when he’s
there.
Eli is opposed by
the Carnegie (Gary
Oldman), the
dictator of a small
town that Eli walks
through on his
journey. Carnegie is
in control of the
water in the town
and he dictates how
it’s rationed as
well as what goes on
in the town.
Carnegie has a large
amount of power but
he wants more people
to rule and more
places to rule and
he knows of the book
and seeks it to
control. He tries to
talk Eli into giving
it to him and when
our hero refuses to
help him- the fight
is on.
It’s rare to see a
great film get
overlooked like this
one did. It has some
religious messages
to it, but that
shouldn’t have kept
it from being
heralded more than
it was. Denzel was
amazing as he always
is and Albert and
Allen Hughes did an
amazing job of
directing. The only
disappointment with
it is its lack of
quality actors
outside of Denzel,
Oldman, and Kunnis.
That might be due to
the fact that the
story follows Eli
and that’s about it,
but even Oldman
wasn’t great in the
movie. He was
stereotypically
casted as the
villain and can we
be honest and say
that Gary Oldman
isn’t even a little
intimidating?
Outside of Denzel
and Kunnis the cast
isn’t great, but it
didn’t have to be.
The story was
excellent and the
work that the Hughes
brothers did
directing was
outstanding.
Warner Bros. is
ahead of everyone on
the Blu-Ray front.
All of the other
studios have lots of
extras but Warner
Bros. uses the most
out of Blu-Ray
technology at the
moment and
The
Book of Eli
is no
different than other
WB releases. It
features maximum
movie mode- a split
screen viewing of
the film with
insights from the
cast and crew as
well as a plethora
of other bonus
content.
The
Book of Eli
is a film that I
would suggest to
anyone out there. It
might be too violent
for some and too
religious for others
but it’s message of
hope and advancement
when there appears
to be no hope of
advancement is
something that’s
incredibly
important.
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