Some parts of the press seem to have been treating Albert and Allen Hughes making their first film since 2001 as if it was the second coming, rather than just a new flick from two filmmakers who’ve only ever made films that have shown a lot of promise but never quite delivered, such as Dead Presidents, Menace II Society, and From Hell.
Unfortunately it’s the same deal with Book Of Eli, a movie that tries to do an awful lot but doesn’t really succeed, even if it always remains relatively watchable.
Denzel Washington stars as Eli (well, presumably, he’s got a nametag to that effect anyway), who does indeed have a book. He’s been living in a post apocalyptic future for 30 years, crossing the landscape on the way to the sea (presumably he’s not very good at heading in a straight line if he hasn’t managed to find the coast in 30 years, although he has faith he’s going in the right direction – the film is big on metaphor and thematics, at the expense of actually making sense).
With most people dead and civilisation all but gone, Eli’s world is a dangerous one, where gangs ride around preying on the innocent, and bosses have taken control of various bits of territory. Carnegie (Gary Oldman) is one such boss, who’s the self-appointed ruler of a small town. He desperately wants the only bible left in the world, and wouldn’t you know it, Eli’s got that book! However Eli believes he is a prophet and that it is his mission to protect the book, and so he’s not about to give it up without a fight.
Eli manages to escape town along with Carnegie’s adopted daughter, Solara (Mila Kunis), but the bad guys aren’t going to let him get away that easily and chase him down. The film ends up as a western, where the goodies have to hole up (in a house belonging to a cannibal couple, played with delicious relish by Frances De La Tor and Michael Gambon in one of the film’s best sections) while the evil-doers try and get them in a final shootout.
The film is a massive fusion of different elements. It’s a post-apocalyptic action western and also a ponderous metaphysical journey. It references an endless amount of other movies, from LA Confidential to Mad Max. It also contains plenty of portentous religious (specifically Christian) themes and has a very serious tone, even while underneath it has a relatively generic ‘man of little words’ western plot and its ideas aren’t quite as grand as its tone seems to think they are (in fact some of them are downright illogical).
The result is that the movie is very uneven. One minute it’s manic, fun and over the top, before turning slow, preachy and ponderous. Unfortunately it’s only the former that really works, as the action and OTT moments are silly but entertaining, while the latter quickly gets tedious because the ideas are often quite dumb but the film takes itself way too seriously. Unfortunately it’s difficult to get a film to work that wants to be both silly but entertaining and also a slow, thought-provoking journey full of grand ideas.
You get the feeling that the filmmakers were so fascinated by the big ideas and the grandiose themes, that they forgot to make it consistently entertaining. The Book Of Eli works brilliantly in short sections, but at nearly two hours, overall the pacing feels very slow.
It’s also one of those films where its success or failure rests on a major plot twist at the end. However it’s so nonsensical that it’s more likely to result in the audience going ‘WTF?’ than thinking all the pieces have suddenly been pulled together and being wowed by their sudden understanding of some of the illogical things in the movie happened. In many ways it’s a shame, because it’s a film that really tries hard but just goes too far in nearly every department.
The themes are interesting, but they’re delivered in such a portentous over the top way that it quickly all becomes rather silly. The film references are initially quite fun, but occasionally just seem thrown in to allow cinephiles to feel smug. The OTT plot can be pretty fun, but the film is so intent on trying to sound self-important and serious that it ends up being rather slow. And the ending could have been a wower, but ultimately seems pretty ridiculous.
Despite all this, it is a film that’s worth a look, if not at cinemas then on DVD. It may not be 100% satisfying, and sometimes it’s downright frustrating, but it’s a brave attempt to make a metaphysical post-apocalyptic movie that really tries to be something more than just run of the mill Hollywood filler. It’s just a shame that while it’s entertaining in fits and starts, overall it feels a case of style over substance, even while it desperately attempts to offer both.
Overall Verdict: A noble failure that’s often entertaining, but which takes ideas that are actually quite dumb, way too seriously.
Reviewer: Phil Caine
