I love post apoc movies, especially ones which have a good ambiance of desolation as opposed to simple destruction. The last one I saw was 'The Road', and that was almost frighteningly bleak. By comparison 'Book of Eli' was almost upbeat, but the textured landscapes and the austere soundtrack kept things in balance. Denzel Washington was as good as he almost invariably always is, delivering the same quiet sense of menace to his character as he did in 'Man on fire', only Eli is a far more humble man which Washington conveyed with ease. Its always good to see a gifted actor playing with moderation, because when they really let go, its utterly compelling.
Curiously I didn't much care for Oldman's portrayal of Carnegie, which I found to be lacking in any real sense of menace. The same was true of Ray Stevenson, who can portray brutality very well as he demonstrated so well in 'Rome', but who seemed wasted in the role of Carnegie's henchman Redridge. I kept expecting him to do something terrible, but all he did was question his boss then suffer an anticlimactic ending.
None of this mattered though. I liked the film regardless.
1 comment:
Great review. I loved it too. My only minor complaint was that Mila Kunis seemed a little too polished and soft for that reality.
The fight scenes were as slick and deadly as I had hoped for.
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