Yes Mel, I am coming to take your post apocalyptic prize!

I am going to keep this review spoiler free. The above image is linked the Wikipedia page for the movie. Wikipedia ALWAYS spoils movies as they detail the plot in the article. You have been warned.

I think its important to note my expectations of The Book of Eli. First off I expected it to be Mad Max with Denzel Washington. I also expected it to be so so. I love post apocalyptic movies so this was a no brainer for me. I love this genre. However this movie exceeded my expectations so much so that I don’t think I can rate this movie high enough. This movie isn’t good because it beat my expectations, its a great movie because it blew my mind.

But what about this movie blew my mind? Good question.

Almost not worth noting that Denzel Washington is a extremely well seasoned actor with amazing chops. Ive seen him in movies I didn’t love but he always pulled off his roles with style. His character is not really like other characters I have seen him play. Eli is actually a pretty reserved character. Well save that he can open a can of whoop ass unlike many ive seen on screen. In these kind of post apocalyptic movies the main character is flamboyant, thrill seeking and cocky. Eli is none of those things. He is on a mission and doesn’t want to deviate from it. He has to and thats where things get interesting but he tries to avoid it as much as he can. I guess to sum it up, Denzel Washington adds to the post apocalyptic good guy character in ways I haven’t seen in this kind of move.

The cinematography in this film is very good. One action scene in the beginning of the movie is done entirely in silloutte. This is something I haven’t quite seen before because you only can see the outlines of the action, blood and all. Its gruesome for sure but it leaves much up to the imagination in a way I thought was unique. The camera paints a world that YOU DO NOT want to live in. Much in the same way as District 9 except that this post apocalyptic US is 100 times worse than that. I gave District 9 cred for developing a future world I never want to live in. I give The Book of Eli a gold medal for showing a post apocalyptic future we as humans never want to create. I imagine its spot on but the ways they showed it I was shocked to realize were dead on accurate.

The story is pretty much what I love most about this movie. Now I am not going to ruin the movie when I saw I don’t see faith portrayed this well in a film. If you know nothing about the movie that statement might surprise you but then again this movie is not simply Denzel Washington as Mad Max. I mean it is, but at its root its really not. In fact the friend that went to see it with me and myself spend an hour and half talking about what this movie is trying to say. There are some really impossible aspects to this movie but then again I found it easy to suspend my disbelief for the entire thing. It was a joy to watch the surprises unfold.

The soundtrack for this movie was something I didn’t think too much about when I watched the movie save I liked it. I listened to a few of the songs afterward and realized I really really liked the score. The score was written by Atticus Ross a composer and part collaborator on all Nine Inch Nails releases since With Teeth. The influence shows and I love the score. Its very ambient but the songs do have themes and tones. Its quite like the Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts but a bit more even and songs often contain Orchestral parts. The lead track Panoramic is beautiful and its all over the movie. In fact, I loved the soundtrack so much I bought it. Its pretty rare I snack up a soundtrack but few are this good. Few movies are this good actually.

Book of Eli Soundrack(CD)
The Book Of Eli Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [+digital booklet]

I can’t recommend you see this movie enough. Then again, if you go out and read other reviewers reviews of this movie you might not get such a raving review. A few people laughed at the movie in parts that were not funny. Some people might not have bought some of what the movie was selling but I ate it up entirely. Then again some people laughed at District 9 when the main character was forced to shoot a prawn(when I can’t understand that scene was horrific).

I rate this movie 10 out of 10 with a bullet. “Beyond phenomenal” are words that came to my mind. I will purchase this movie the second it is released and will see it again in the theaters. Yeah, I liked it that much. Does it show?

BONUS FEATURES:

* I noticed this movie has 3 of the actors from the “Harry Potter verse.” Dumbledore & Madame Maxime are married and Sirus Black is the bad guy. Of course I mean Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon & Frances de la Tour. When Frances de la Tour and Michael Gambon were on screen I was like “Dumbledore marries Madam Maxime in the future? Huh… strange.” It didn’t take me out of the movie, the characters act NOTHING like their Hogwarts counterparts but its fun to notice.