The things I liked:
The Cast
Washington plays the title character of Eli, and does so with care. Eli's only purpose is to protect a book, the Bible, and make sure it gets to where it needs to be. He will do whatever it takes to protect the book, even fight and kill 10 guys at once with a huge sword. Awesome! But there is a tortured soul aspect to Washington's character. He is killing, in order to protect the last Bible on Earth. A bit contradictory. There is a huge surprise in the end that I will not spoil. But I would like to say that few actors in Hollywood could have pulled it off, Washington does.
Oldman plays a "mayor" of a town. He has aspirations of building-up, and controling cities after the Apocalypse has taken place. Oldman is so good at being a villain, I loved his role. Oldman's character wants the last Bible on Earth, because he believes that people will stop viewing him as a savior if they're reminded of the son of God as the true savior. He is driven to this cause that none of his men can relate to, no one can understand his obsession, yet it will not stop him.
I never thought I'd say this, but I liked Mila Kunis in this film. She did very well in the movie. I normally dislike all of her work (i.e. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Max Payne). She does well as a reminder to Washington's character. She reminds him of the value of life; something he forget while killing people to protect the Bible. The way Kunis reminds Washington what it means to be human is reminiscent of another Gary Oldman film, The Professional. Similar to Natalie Portman's character in that film, Kunis is for this film. She brings a human aspect to the story that Washington is missing. Nice job.
The Story/Concept/Pacing
The story is very easy to follow. There is nothing in the movie that "too religious" or "too preachy". It has a nice flow that will keep you entertained the whole movie. The other thing I must comment on is the action. I loved the action, but there's more to it. I've said this a million times; I hate action in movies just for the sake of action, IRON MAN 2, AHEM, ahem. The action in this movie was imperative in telling the story. Loved it! Like I said before, there's a surprise at the end that will make you want to go back and watch the movie again to see if you could find the setup to the surprise.
What I didn't like:
Plot Holes
There are a few plot holes in the movie that leave you scratching your head. For example; why and how could there be only ONE Bible left on the entire Earth. I understand how Eli got to the last Bible on Earth, but WHY is it the last one? The movie tells us its been 30 years since the Apocalypse, is that enough time for the entire world to forget the sayings or meanings of the Bible? I don't think so. It would take generations for the world to forget the readings of any major writings in Religion. There's a few more example, but none that took away from my experience.
Overall the movie plays it safe, and by the book, no pun intended. But it's done well. The Hughes brothers directed the movie, and I commend them. It would have been easy to make this a overly religious movie, but they didn't. There were no Oscars for the movie, but I liked it. It was nice because I didn't see the movie in theaters, but heard so much hype about it. So it was nice to see that hype pay off. So until next week, look at it this way.... you could buy/rent The Book of Eli, or that crap of a movie When in Rome. Your choice!
