The Book of Eli

One thing that is common with common day films that contain a strong Christian theme is that, when they get into the 'Christianness', it tends to get really quite cheesy. I, myself, am a Christian, but even I can see that they often put forward their beliefs without consideration for those who might want to see a bit of justification for the said beliefs (generally atheists). Probably the main reason that this irritates people is that it is always the same cliched things that are being said, rather than anything new. The writers also tend to write the Christian aspect into the script with little or no consideration as to how it might fit into the overall movie, or making sure it stays out of the way of (or, if possible, strengthen) the story.

'The Book of Eli' is a film with a strong Christian message, and seemingly told from a Christian perspective. This aspect actually blends in nicely with the story. There are certainly a few moments where it comes across as cheesy, but compared to what you'll usually see, the film is not likely to induce a cringe with these aspects.

"So," begins an interested listener, "You say it is a good film?"

No, you ignorant twerp. The film was ultimately very disappointing.

This could be taken as a compliment of sorts, as I would not have found it such if there was no potential in it. Indeed the film is original and the storyline itself is quite impressive. There is also a twist at the end that made me raise my eyebrows because there was really some inventiveness behind it. It stars Denzel Washinton, who is awesome (and it is probably him who makes the Christian message sound cool rather than cringe-worthy). Unfortunately, there are also a number of things that drag it down beyond forgiveness:

The most prominent thing that lasts throughout is that the dialogue is largely either cliche or unbelievable. The only times this fault is forgivable is when it is delivered by someone like Denzel, but most of the smaller roles delivered the poorly penned lines with little conviction. Often times the lines are over-dramatic. Over-dramaticness can be incredibly awesome, but it can also be done badly, and unfortunately it was done with little care here.

There were a lot of things that should have been kept out or replaced, as a lot of the scenes sometimes either went too long or didn't really need to be there. It could be that the directors needed to spend a bit more time on some of the scenes, and made them make more sense or have more meaning. The ending went a little too long after the little twist, where it should have ended very quickly, and the last half-minute was quite awfully cliched.

On the upside, the scenery is nice. Not spectacular, but does not disappoint. Being post-apocalyptic it needs awesome scenery and cinematography, and it at least does a reasonable job of both these things. Not overly brilliant, but worth a mention.

There isn't much action in the film, but the little that it does contain is reasonably well-done. Again, not something you'll remember a week after seeing it, but certainly nice looking sequences. There aren't many shots in these parts, so it isn't confusing, and you see the whole thing happening. Although there is a moment where they throw a bomb out the window and it land a little to the side of the car. The next shot you can't see the bomb, but the area that the bomb landed is basically visible. When it ticks over, the car it was next to explodes rather than the bomb. Curious.

Overall, this film would have been substantially better with a few more drafts of the script (and maybe someone else to aid with the dialogue), more care, effort and time from the direction, and maybe a bit better casting. I would not object to the creators making more films, because it is most likely that they will improve with practice. It proves that a Christian perspective is capable of being implanted into a film without being flippin' mindless. Denzel Washington looks cool in sunglasses.