Now, normally I don’t watch R-rated movies, and I had no interest in watching this one, but a commentary from the great commentator Molotov Mitchell  really caught my interest about the movie The Book of Eli.  Here’s the clip you can watch before I give my own review of the movie.  Please, go ahead and watch.  I’ll be back, I promise, and it’s not long.

Ok, now that you’ve watched the original commentary that got me interested, shameless plug.  Molotov Mitchell’s video commentary can be watched every Wednesday at www.wnd.com.  You can also watch him on Youtube here.  I think he’s really insightful, so when he plugged this film so highly, I really wanted to see what was up.

Denzel Washington as Christian warrior, Eli

As Molotov said, the film is about a man named Eli.  A survivor of the last, great world

Gary Oldman as the evil Carnegie

war.  In this apocalyptic environment, Eli is working his way west across the country in search of a safe place to keep the world’s last copy of The Bible, which is in his possession.  The world had burned all other copies of The Bible because it was believed that what was in the book was what started the wars in the first place, a preposterous, and dangerous, idea.  In this cruel, inhospitable world, full of roving bands of filthy, marauding bandits, Eli finds himself approaching a small town, which happens to have a leader, Carnegie, who is looking for said book because he believes that with it, he can more effectively expand his territory and rule what few humans remain.

Mila Kunis as Solara, and Eli

The plot was interesting, and the twist, which I will  not reveal, not only reinforced the

Eli teaches Solara how to pray over dinner

movie’s message, but was incredibly revealing about what sort of dedication Eli has, and the power of God’s word.  It definitely had it’s touching, poignant moments, such as when Eli teaches a young girl how to pray for the first time in her life, and teaches her what’s important.  He also comes to learn himself that it’s not enough to know the words in the book and read them.  You must live by what the book says.  Eli learns the importance of having friends, and caring for people in a world gone completely nuts.  Think Mad Max with religion, as Molotov pointed out.  These sweet scenes were well placed, and kept the movie from becoming completely bleak and hopeless feeling.

The casting was terrific.  Denzel Washington was amazing as Eli, and did his usual great work.  I’ve always liked his movies.  Gary Oldman was terrific as Carnegie, and an older, still beautiful Jennifer Beals of Flashdance fame was featured as Carnegie’s kept woman.  Mila Kunis, whom I’d never seen much of before, gave a good performance as Solara, the young girl Eli teaches to pray, and changes his life as much as he changes hers.

Eli, ready for action

The tone was perfect, and well set in the very first moments where Eli shoots, and kills, a poor, hairless cat that was scrounging in the wilderness.  Then we watch Eli not only eat the roasted feline, but “wash” himself with wetnaps from KFC (no nudity was shown other than above the waist, and I wonder how much KFC paid for that product placement).  From those moments we can tell we’re looking at the world our parents had nightmares about and were told to get under their school desks for. And a world of people who don’t believe in or even know The Bible isn’t one I would want to live in at all.

The music was also great and notable.  Eli’s soft, yet powerful theme is beautiful.  The music is dramatic and sweeping, while appropriately frenetic at times, when the scene requires.

Let me state this clearly, this is DEFINITELY NOT a movie for children.  I’d only let a mature older teen watch this one, if at all.  It’s very violent, and the evil villains and bandits are very nasty, crude and use plenty of foul language.  Now, I’m not saying that the overall message of the film excuses all the violence and language.  However, its message about the importance and power of  The Bible, and goodness in general, not to mention what’s really important to have when society collapses,  is truly a wonderful one and not something you see much from Hollywood anymore.  I actually enjoyed watching the show.  It felt really uplifting, despite the bleakness and harshness of the setting, and if you’re an adult, especially a Christian one, I highly recommend it.

5/5