THE BOOK OF ELI (2010, Blu-ray released June 15, 2010 – MSRP $35.99)
The Hughes brothers have returned after a long hiatus from feature films. With the release of The Book of Eli they have shaken off the cobwebs and proven that they can still deliver a captivating film experience. They are back in a serious way, bringing both Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman with them.
It seems fitting that I review a film, made by twin brothers, and starring my twin, Denzel. I am kidding. Ok, working with your brother can’t be easy. I can’t even watch a movie with mine without an argument. The Hughes brothers’ last feature was From Hell, in 2001. The Book of Eli is evidence of a maturing filmmaking team. The film is a work of art, and “work” is the operative word, here. Eli is a carefully constructed and assembled film that only suffers from a little pacing problem here and there. A collage of visual effects, sound engineering and set design and action sequences.
It’s a scorched Earth of the future. Our setting is a harsh land, with much dust, people barely living, with little water and without hope. The heat can be felt coming up off of the road. A scruffy-looking Denzel, playing the titular wandering hero Eli, shows us that he isn’t slowing down. He dropped major weight that he had put on for his role in The Taking of Pelham 123 and trained extensively for the fight sequences. Oldman plays the surprisingly clean-cut nemesis, a powerful man who rules over a bustling, filthy, frontier town, whose quest for a particular book takes a turn when he meets Eli.
This isn’t a film about the end of the world. The story and setting speak of the things that we take for granted. The things we covet and the things that have true value. That being said, it’s also an action packed, wandering lone-wolf-kicking-butt-and-taking-names kind of movie. The action sequences have a great flow to them. These scenes build to a boil beautifully and then explode, but it’s the story that pulls you in. Often, stories that remind audiences of an organized religion can hurt a film these days. Anything spiritual is generally easier to discuss in more ethereal terms. Sure, the danger is there, but The Book of Eli never becomes preachy.
As you would expect from greats, Oldman and Denzel, the performances are more than solid; however, Mila Kunis may not have been the best choice for the female lead of the film – a young girl captivated by Eli, who follows him out of the ramshackle town she calls home, into the wild, wild wasteland where she becomes instrumental in the destiny of his much coveted ‘book’. She definitely looked the part, but her portrayal of the Solara character seems to be missing a layer or two. It’s unfortunate, but not too distracting.
The 1080p/VC-1 transfer is outstanding. True and sharp, the de-saturated colors of the barren landscapes are achieved with detailed matte paintings and digital magic. With no loss of detail, textures are clear without popping out at you. Blacks are rich and suffer only a little in some of the more heavy contrast shots.
The soundtrack is at times appropriately bleak and then hope-inspiring. It is sprinkled with little blurps and noises, adding a sonic texture to the film that helps to create and lead your ear to anticipate tense moments. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 surround soundtrack makes the most of its muscle during the action sequences. Bullets whiz and ricochet. Blades slash and swish. Wood splinters and debris flies in stunning clarity and explosive force. Dialogue is cleanly audible, with a lot of the front-end of the sound doing the work there–The low-end booms without ever becoming obnoxious. My only complaint here would be the volume of the P-i-P track in Maximum Movie Mode: It’s too low compared to the film. Designed to be watched along the course of the film, the level jump, back into the film, is too high, and it will have you riding your volume button a bit.
Packed with extras, including Warner’s BD-Live link, this combo pack came with a DVD and digital copy to make sure that all of your bases are covered. Presented in HD, feuturettes introduce us to the film’s composer, Atticus Ross, and through cast and crew interviews, we delve into the deconstruction and construction required for the look and feel of the film. “Focus Points” of the filmmaking process are viewable both as separate features and as incorporated vignettes from the Maximum Movie Mode feature. Also included, are (very few) deleted scenes and a motion-comic type of piece entitled “A Lost Tale: Billy“, which gives us some further insight to the Carnegie character played by Oldman.
This film definitely merits a viewing. Proving that they can not be counted out, the Hughes brothers deliver a worthy film about a righteous journeyman, affecting the landscape of the new west as he goes on his own private pilgrimage. I am anxious to see what they have planned next.
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