The Book of Eli (15) ***
Directed by: the Hughes Brothers
Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Beals
Having completed but three films in the 17 years since their debut Menace II Society, the Hughes Brothers are clearly picky about their projects. The Book of Eli arrives late to the post-apocalyptic table, yet cheekily sets out to reclaim Doomsday for genre thrills: the result’s a crazed desert pursuit that serves as - whisper it around your highbrow friends - the fun alternative to The Road.
Lone blade Eli (Washington) survives in the wilderness by eating cats and skinning anyone else who impedes his progress. He drifts into deadlier trouble upon entering a town overseen by tyrant-in-waiting Carnegie (Oldman, returning to top-grade hamming), who’s holed up in an abandoned cinema burning books - the tome he really wants just so happens to be the one Eli’s placed all his faith in.
Its loopiness is fervent, but the Hugheses really do know how to move the camera, and Gary Whitta’s script offers up a steady parade of fanboy treats: a Tom Waits cameo, Denzel kicking ass for the Lord, an escape to Alcatraz, and a genuinely unforeseeable final twist. All this plus Frances de la Tour singing “Ring My Bell”, which just isn’t something you get to witness every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment