The Book Of Eli

Cover of The Book of Eli

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Recently I went to see the movie The Book Of Eli. I saw a few of the commercials and the buzz about it beforehand so I became very interested in seeing this latest performance by one of Hollywood's top actors Denzel Washington. With him in any movie I immediately assume that it will offer an acceptable level of entertainment.

Well after seeing the movie I was not impressed. It started off slow and never picked up. Washington himself seemed unexcited about the role as a post apocalyptic weapon strapped loner bent on reaching “the west”. Why? Not even he knew. He claimed to heve heard a voice 30 years earlier that told him to find the last Bible, protect it with his life, and head west. He would know what to do once he gets there. The first question I asked was why he didn’t find a car to drive since there were drivable cars around.

The movie is set 30 years after what seemed like a nuclear war had wiped out 99% of the worlds population. Half the survivors were blind from the flash of the nuclear bombs while the rest and those born after had various ailments. I couldn’t figure out if Washington himself was blind because at the end it sort of suggests that he was. If that was the case then I give the writers credit for something deeper than the barbarism of the scenes.

It would mean that the bible was controlling Eli and not some god up in heaven. Lo now (The Word is an Entity whose sole purpose is to find a suitable Host). Like life itself this Entity is super resilient. Try to kill it all you want and it will find a way to cling to mans psyche and grow as a (Mustard seed). Word Life.
In the movie food and water were very scarce. Most people roamed the barren terrain in a lawless cannibalistic state. The villain is a maniacal maniac who rules a town full of these people. Washington passes through the town and ended up on the villains bad side when he kills off some of the villains henchmen.  The villain quickly finds out that Eli possesses the one thing he seeks, The Bible.

On the surface the whole movie is a blatant endorsement of the Christian faith. OK, don’t stone me for blasphemy yet. I didn’t say there was anything wrong with Christianity. I just don’t favor or endorse any religion or one over another. I believe in the Human spirit and I practice altruistic values. I have read the Bible unlike most people who claim to believe in it yet practice bigotry and hate. Like the movie suggests the Bible has power but not supernaturally. It gives insights into human nature that once understood could be put to use in controlling or assisting the human condition.

Let me get back to Mr. Eli and why the movie didn’t make sense to me. In the movie they blame religion for the destruction of the world so subsequently all bibles and religious writings were systematically destroyed. The villain was actively searching for a copy of the bible because he knew that with it he could rule the masses and build an empire that worshiped him. Eli had the last bible, a King James Version and his mission was to bring it out to the west cast where God would tell him what to do.

To me it seemed like what the makers of this movie was implying was that God had destroyed the world because man had corrupted it with all kinds of false religions so God was set on re-directing humanity into the hands of his “chosen people” the Christians. I hope they don’t intend to show this movie in any Muslim countries because it could easily be mis-understood.

All in all I would give this movie two out of five stars. One star for Washington and another star for the only scene that touched me. That was when the villain shot Eli (Washington) and he fell then rose up again before finally collapsing into the dirt. I saw possibilities of greatness that was unfortunately not present throughout the rest of the movie.