IMDB
Offical Movie site
Rotten Tomatoes
Skip to Rate-Down* to get the skinny
Inventory:
Star Power: Denzel Washignton, Gary Coleman
Female Leads: Mila Kunis
Themes: Faith, post-apocalyptic / dystopian society
Quirky bits: the lack of quirkiness strikes me, its almost a little to straight forward. All that comes to mind is the color pan, its really shades of tan and gray, very “visual” in that respect
Plot Summary:
In a post-fallout world one man makes a journey from the east to the west coast carrying a book, throughout the film we discover his motivations and what circumstances led him to this epic journey. The villain seeks to impede his progress and wants to elevate himself as a self-proclaimed leader of the surviving population. Female lead is inexplicably torn between her disbelief and the desire for a better life and so takes up with the unlikely hero.
Review:
First of I have to say, Denzel Washington looks younger than 56 years old in this movie, even though it does make him look old, man gotta admire those genes. So speaking of transitions and aging, alot of this movie is the transition scenes of Eli (Denzel) or his companion (Mila) walking through a barren landscape, or bad guys doing the same thing. There is a large chunk of the movie, I’d wager a good 15 to 25 minutes that could be condensed or cut out. That’s the scary thing, you know there are extra scenes or parts they cut out for pacing, so still its not a fast-paced or slow-paced; just when I felt it was starting to drag my curiosity would be peaked by some dialog or new development. This movie isn’t really covering new territory (The Road, Children of Men, etc.)
This movie easily could fit into the Fallout 3 universe, lore. The storyline does take an unusual take on what to do in post-apocalyptic world, you could say that the movie is trying to get you to validate the main character, say that “wow that really is amazing, could that really happen.” Then logic should kick in a say, “Wow it would really suck if there was a massive nuclear holocaust.” That’s right, its just a movie, we REALLY don’t want this to ever happen, now go call your congress person or representative and go join a political action group or something…. ok back? Alright.
Another thing that really struck me is that finally there seems to be some common sense in a post apocalyptic movie: most valuable resource? Water. Thing people do alot? Kill each other because they can. Most common stress response? Cannibalism, violence, complete loss of any type of civil decency, utter anarchy. This movie conveys that in just enough of a dose where its “I peeked into this room and I didn’t like what I saw.” They show you just enough to get the idea that “wow things hit the fan and fell apart, if you survived this you probably would wish you didn’t.” without going into way to much of a gory detail. Everything from a scene where charging a battery is paid for by what? not water… Moist towelettes. Best scene in the movie IMO that sums out how things are in the society.
Closing: Something about the acting in this movie stuck with me, I don’t know if I’d go out on a limb and say “wow great acting” but I’ve seen much much worse. Part of what I think may work in Denzel’s favor is he really gives off this sort of detached, calloused sense of character really having sadly, adapted to the circumstances of the society by scars and experience. There is no “OH YES, please come with me, I’ll save you.” written into the character, the most you get is what is real, a glance that is attempted to be hidden. When people really want, they really try to hide it, that makes it convincing enough for me.
THE RATE DOWN:
Will you waste your time watching this: No, for the most part this movie attempts to appeal to general sensibilities, the character is interesting enough and there is a payoff, no wack endings. Speaking of the ending its not half bad.
A to F scale: B, there could have been parts that they replaced these long walking around scenes with more character development, but the actors did their job, writers should’ve put more story and told the director they wanted to focus on making it more deep / meaningful.
Would I watch this movie again: I already have 3 times, twice to see if I missed anything. That is unusual for me. I usually can’t watch a good movie more than once.
Replay Value: There’s not a whole lot out there, THe Road vs. Eli, Eli wins, less emo. Eli vs. Children of Men, toss up, I like Clive Owen alot but the whole emo thing, at the end. Mad Max vs. Eli. MAD MAX OF COURSE! Why you even ask me that?
Recommended format: Bluray, better sound / color pan (or lack thereof)
Would I buy it: tempting but I just returned the netflix, so for now no.