THE BOOK OF ELI

[Eric Plumrose]

Surprisingly, I didn't have too much of a problem with this once I realized what was going on. Found it to be a mostly entertaining slice of Christian propaganda with a few cool bits thrown in, even if it does bottle the ending. LOVED the soundtrack and look, though. Quite reminiscent of any number of post-apocalypses (apocalypsi?) from the 1980s.

Aside from my being godless wormfood, my main problem however is that [spoiler]it lacks any historical sense of how the Bible came to be. Just before yer man Eli starts regurgitating Genesis, I was hoping he'd be revealed as himself illiterate and start dictating something of his own. A personal embellishment that's in the 'tell', as Savannah Nix would have it.[/spoiler]

I've no idea how the supposed rewrites changed the film, but yeah. As summed up by Cosmic Ray (no less), [spoiler]'Guy delivers Bible to West Coast liberals so they can put it on a shelf'.[/spoiler]

[the shutdown man]

I thought it was pretty decent, as post-apocalytic Denzel Washington/ Gary Oldman films go. It looked great, and I liked the little touches, like chapstick and KFC wetwipes being so valuable.

My main problem was the ending, and the argument about this went back and forth as we left the cinema: [spoiler]Is Eli actually supposed to be blind? Dumb question perhaps, but if he is, I didn't notice any hints of that before the big reveal, and he seems to be pretty good at shooting people, and not bumping into stuff. But then there's that big focus on his eyes as he starts reciting the bible, which some argue was a sign that he was blind. [/spoiler]

[Eric Plumrose]

Ah, sod the SPOILER tags. If you don't want to know, look away at the footie results or something.

My interpretation of Eli's sight was that it had been restored for his mission. Once he'd reached Alcatraz, it was no longer needed. Of course, his irides suddenly becoming opaque might just have been a clumsy allusion to his blindness.

[the shutdown man]

That could work. I just didn't like the sudden implication that he was some kind of post-apocalyptic Daredevil, it didn't sit right with the rest of the film. I like the Bible being in Braille, and that it was only useful to him, but it could still work without stretching it too far.

[Eric Plumrose]

The problem then is why would God restore Eli's sight to complete a mission that serves only to once more divide humankind rather than unite it.

Surprised also no one's picked up on Chris Weston's involvement in this.

[JamesC]

He's supposed to have been blind all the way through.

He only shoots the cat once it makes a meow, he only shoots people once they have made a sound, he smells the ambushers (smelled literally although we tend to take it metaphorically) he hears the bird that he shoots with the arrow etc.

I agree he was a pretty good shot for a blind guy but then again I once saw Hans Morreti shoot an apple off his wifes head while blindfold and spun around on the Paul Daniels Magic Show.

[the shutdown man]

And he looks people in the eye when talking to them, wears sunglasses when going outside, walks into the house at the beginning and heads straight to the sink, can work an iPod no problem, etc.?

This wasn't Washington's Scent of a Woman. If he was blind, he wasn't acting like it.

[JamesC]

And he looks people in the eye when talking to them, wears sunglasses when going outside, walks into the house at the beginning and heads straight to the sink, can work an iPod no problem, etc.?

That's just to stop you from guessing the twist!

[the shutdown man]

Hmmmm.....guess I can't argue with that one.

[Eric Plumrose]

He also escaped from a locked room.

[Kerrin]

Just like Jebus. Except he was dead. Which is a pretty good party trick.

Nice touches and good action but mostly duff.

[PsychoGoatee]

I really love this movie, very cool stuff. A nice, post apocalyptic Western done with style, solid performances, something to think about, and comic book gusto.

Nice to see the directors the Hughes brothers make a comeback.