Film

If we tell you that this flick is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, you can probably fill in a lot of the blanks: a loner who walks through the desert, bands of cannibals, rumors of a place that’s green. You know the drill. It’s all there in The Book of Eli, with an overlay of Christian theology, or at least fetishistic obsession with what may be the last remaining copy of the Bible, thrown in for good measure. For what it is, it’s pretty entertaining.

Those expecting a lot of action may grumble about the Hughes brothers’ focus on ambiance. Sure, Bible-reading wanderer Eli (Washington) unleashes some mad killing skills. Book of Eli doesn’t have the deep attention to the details of post-disaster decay of, say, I Am Legend (Book of Eli’s wasteland is pretty generic), but the Hughes brothers know how to work a mood and get good performances out of all the players, which is no small feat in this sort of movie.

The religious aspects of Gary Whitta’s screenplay get a bit overbearing at times, and the last 20 minutes could have been tightened up a bit, but on the whole, this is a hell of a lot better than most of the post-apocalyptic thrillers we’ve seen lately.