4 out of 5

Directors:  Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

This is actually more like three and a half stars, but what the hell. Book of Eli is a nicely shot film of the post-apocalyptic variety, where the future world is desolate and waterless, with highway robberies and rapes a frequent occurrence and many resorting to cannibalism to stay well fed. On the road we meet Eli – Denzel Washington – who is trying to go West, but runs afoul of a Gary Oldman. You see, Oldman is looking for a book, and it turns out that Denzel has it. The book, of course, might save the world… or ruin it moreso. Mila Kunis plays the damsel in distress. First off, I suggest reading about the ending of the film… because it is a twist, and a potentially frustrating one… whereas I believe I enjoyed the film more because I knew what was in store. The other thing that will affect your enjoyment is how impacted you are by the religious themes. …Cause that book I mentioned? Its a Bible. (Not a spoiler – this is mentioned early in the film.) However, I tend to think the film is pretty open with its religious values, speaking more to the potential positive and negative powers of faith in general than of just one faith. Anyhow anyhow anyhow, Book of Eli is a typical example of a film that preaches great things but only shows mundane things. Its not an epic. Its shot really well in some spots (the house shootout is awesome), but it overdoes the walking slow-mo and sky shots. And there are a couple dangling threads to the plot… but overall, I tipped to four stars because I was both visually and intellectually entertained by the film, riveted by most of the acting (Denzel and Oldman… Kunis has good chops but was put to poor use here) and the *drive* of the plot, if not whatever it may or may not be preaching.