Book of Crap...

The Book of Eli
Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis
Director: The Hughes Brothers
Rating: ** (out of 5)


Summary: Denzel Washington walks a ravaged, sun scorched Earth with nothing but his wits, a dead ipod and a book. After arriving in a ramshackle town run by madman Carnegie (Gary Oldman) he realises that some people will stop at nothing to get their hands on the text and he is the only one who can protect it...

Whilst The Road (reviewed below) gives the viewer a sombre but ultimately rewarding movie experience - both visually and in terms of the performances - Book of Eli would rather blow your senses with quick cuts, loud bangs and laughable plot twists.

Welcome to the apocalypse - Hollywood style.

Don't mistake me for a pretentious arse who would rather watch a boxset of German expressionist work with a packet of wheat germ biscuits than stuff my face with popcorn and sweet, sugary liquids. I love big, dumb action films where script comes second to exploding heads and C4, but The Book of Eli takes its subject matter far too seriously to be fun and is far too ridiculous to be serious.

By casting reliable, heavyweight actors such as Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman amongst the bullets and babes (well, babe, unless Frances de la Tour is your thing) The Hughes Brothers attempt to bring gravitas to the precedings. However, Washington sleep walks and mumbles his way through the deserted land like a Romero zombie and Oldman gives a performance that is more The Fifth Element than The Dark Knight. I suppose even the best actors are allowed the occasional bad script choice.

Credit to Michael Gambon and British sitcom stalwart Miss De la Tour who both bring a sense of sinister fun to their brief cameos, but the enjoyment their moments on screen give are too few and far between to make Book of Eli anything more than an almost passable Saturday night movie.