The book of Eli ( Blu-ray ) ( 2009 )
There have been quite a few distopian novels made into films recently and this is very much a second runner to the excellent The Road by John Hillcoat. Its definately trying to walk the Mad Max line, the grand daddy of all post apocalyptic road movie films, indeed it even features bad guys on motorbikes and Arab like desertwear. Overall its not a bad film, and not a bad Blu-ray either. There is a lot of attention to getting the mood right. Much of the shooting is done in monochrome or if not a very limited colour base. All this translates nicely. The sound track reminds me of the recent I am Legend with sparse track dropped in the middle of nowhere – and the one notable here is Anita Ward’s Ring my bell. It is placed in a totally surreal position – but equally it serves to support the position of the characters refering to a history long gone and should be equally valid – rather than something we might think fitting. Excellent work.The film is let down by the near passes to sad as I have to say it – The Postman. OK, fair do’s maybe Im a miserable git, and like to see people in a constant state of tragedy but I think its really hard to make a feel good distopia, thats the whole point. But admittedly its a very long way from bad here. It would have so far to go to match the Postman. There are a lot of positive aspects such as Denzel Washington who plays a role outside his comfort zone. Ok there is a fair bit of action but he has to do the kung foo thing which he pulls off quite well and hes also playing the drifter – not his usual hero. The story is passable adding in well enough to the tempo of the film. Generally its worth a watch, but in preference to the Road, it’s definately a second runner to me.
Tags: Apocalyptic, Denzel, distopia, Washington
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