The Book of Eli

It’s not as bad as they say. It has loads of ideas, the actors are great and the brothers in the director’s chair know how move the camera around the action in such that your eyes get an erotic massage at times, which makes the narrative weakness and author’s aimlessness all the more painful. The plot moves mechanically on a previously marked path, without ever developing the nature of a potentially interesting world, whose filth is lost in style, while the climax can’t deliver the punch that the mystery built around Denzel’s character would deserve. It’s watchable, but gratuitous AF. 60% (21/10/2018)

A few knife fights and one bigger shootout do not make an action epic. And what's worse, one suspicious punchline and a few attempts at existential dialogues do not create a drama at all. The survival book stumbles from nowhere to nowhere, the actors meander precisely into their predictable boxes, and everything ends with one big question mark as to whether this is meant seriously. With a reasonable distance, it is still a weaker, disjointed nothingness that holds a few glimpses of post-apocalyptic atmosphere beyond the one-star threshold. (11/12/2010)

Anyone who wonders why I gave The Book of Eli ****, go see how I rated Costner's The Postman. Okay, don't look for it - I gave it five. The two films have a lot in common. I don't just mean a post-apocalyptic future and one guy mashing his way through the landscape with some sort of goal/mission/whatever. In my opinion, both of them are also very unlucky - because everyone expects a dark story full of action, so logically, when they get (in the case of The Book of Eli) an intimate fairy-tale "walking movie", they stretch their disappointed faces and grumble. Yet from my point of view, The Book of Eli is definitely interesting. And if you want to engage your brain, it will make you think. Technically, this almost two-hour sci-fi film is top-notch - although it's a B-movie of the highest caliber (the shootout on the city street), all the action scenes (yes, there are some) are truly original. Eli's first skirmish, which we see as a static shot of fighting silhouettes, my favorite one-shot shooting of the house, which I will definitely watch many more times... I'm satisfied. The final thought and point are not particularly surprising (well, a little bit - but it doesn't change the fact that the screenwriter needs a slap for how he dealt with some of the situations and actions of some characters), but it doesn't offend either. The actors (Washington and the obviously reveling Oldman) and the music, which made perhaps half of the atmosphere, were pleasing. Four pure stars. (08/07/2010)

While having faith play the main role doesn’t bother me, I would have imagined it a little differently. I'm glad it wasn't just a simple-minded shooter, though. On the other hand, D. Washington was loaded with too much goodness. Not enough badass lines, cleverness, and conviction. But I still find it touching that he memorized the entire Bible. (20/04/2011)

For an action flick, The Book of Eli has too little action (two knife fights that take barely a minute and are more symbolic than physical + one static shootout). It is also too childishly simple for a drama with a message, with a few WTF moments (Denzel Washington’s invincibility, non-sequiturs in the plot and especially the unnecessary extra point in the ending). The post-apocalyptic atmosphere is limited by the film’s budget, and the director’s talent is not enough (the significantly more expensive Terminator Salvation was a lot sexier despite all its stupidity). The actors have nothing to play and the audience finds nothing to entertain them in this movie. As I gave three stars to I Am Legend, which was more engaging and interesting in terms of both visuals and plot, I’ve got to stick with only two stars here. (11/01/2010)