Movie Details
The Book of Eli (2010)
Director-: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Cast-Denzel WashingtonMila KunisRay Stevenson
Movie type- Action/Thriller
Release date- 19 March
IMDB Rating-6.8
Languages- English/Portuguese/Spanish
Duration-1 Hour 58 Minutes
Trailer
Synopsis
The main character of the film by the Hughes brothers – Eli (great as usual, Washington) thinks similarly. He is a wanderer who has been traversing the desert vastness of a war-ravaged planet for 30 years. He is an aging loner who still remembers a normal life and old customs. He is also a kind of savior and the last righteous man – a defender of faith and human values hidden in the thick, titular book in his possession. It is for her that he travels across the continent, killing anyone who gets in his way and threatens his extraordinary mission in any way. However, one day the scythe hits a stone. This stone is the self-proclaimed ruler of a dynamically developing town, Carnegie (Oldman does not disappoint again), to whom Eli ends up partly by accident and partly by the need to replenish his supplies. It is obvious that a confrontation must take place – especially since Carnegie has been hunting for the treasure Eli is hiding for years and will do anything to get his hands on it.
It must be admitted that the post-apocalyptic world of the film The Book of Salvation created by the Hughes brothers is very impressive – and it is worth going to the cinema just for it. For the first minutes, not a single word is spoken here, the atmosphere is built successively using stylized, slow shots of a dead planet, over which the sun constantly hovers, destroying the survivors. There is dirt, there is stench, dust, blood, sweat, ruins and ashes.
There are also wild gangs lurking in every nook and cranny for naive travelers. Moreover, we do not receive much information, so the tension and uncertainty do not subside. For example, it is not known where and when the action takes place (we know that it is America, but if it weren’t for the finale, it wouldn’t be so obvious; the year 2044 is non-film information), or what caused the war. All we know is that one day we made a hole in the sky, thus turning the earth into hell. Thanks to such measures, additionally complemented by great acting, casual action and trance music in the background, the film is truly absorbing. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end…
The second half of the film The Book of Salvation – this is not the first and probably not the last time I have to use this phrase. This is unfortunately a sad trend in cinema in recent years. It was as if the creators had enough ideas and/or inspiration for the first half of the film, and treated the second half as if it was just a waste of time. Maybe this doesn’t entirely apply to the Hughes brothers, but it must be admitted that they didn’t do well in the second part of The Book of Salvation . Just as the first half of this production is a really good film, perfectly combining entertainment with something more, in the second segment these proportions are disturbed and the whole thing loses its edge, dangerously approaching another stupid blockbuster. Instead of great hand-to-hand fights, we suddenly get shootings, explosions and chases (although it’s good that there was no obtrusive CGI) without order and structure.
The main characters gradually start to go crazy and make strange movements, and more and more scenes are unintentionally funny and irritating. The nail in the coffin is Mila Kunis – definitely the greatest screen star of recent years. It’s true that she is beautiful (although her smooth face pales in comparison to Jennifer Beals in the background), but she frames almost the entire film, including the – otherwise cool, but not very credible – final action. I’m leaving aside the fact that Miss Kunis is first-class wood, but she simply doesn’t fit here. Her character is incredibly irritating and destroys literally everything – she is straight out of another fairy tale, in the real sense of the word. And unfortunately, she survives all the troubles.
I could also strongly attach myself to the main idea of the film – although it is not bad in itself, but the creators approach it clumsily, which makes several scenes look as if they were sponsored by the Bible Society (the only thing missing was the view of this book against the background of a fluttering flag – American, of course). And yet it is not about a specific title or religion, but about faith and sacrifice as such. In this respect, The Book of Salvation is a bit similar to The Road – in both of these stories, faith is something that must be nurtured and protected no matter what, and it is what pushes the characters on their journey. There is also the theme of the master and the disciple, but this is a marginal issue, and a very far-fetched one at that. The brothers did not use the potential of both this thread and the entire story, which could have been much, much better.
it is a good film, consistent to a certain extent, with an undeniable atmosphere and a slight hint of self-irony. The Hugheses skillfully use the classics of the genre ( Mad Max ), which they easily mix with the western style (lots of quotes and references) and also add a bit of their own twist. And it looks good (although quite predictable). I won’t say that I wasn’t disappointed, because you can expect more from a project and creators of this caliber. But I don’t remember the session negatively either. What’s more, compared to most of today’s blockbusters, this title looks really solid. But we probably won’t find salvation inside.
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