THE BOOK OF ELI (2010)

Everyone is seemingly obsessed with the end of the world at the moment. Emmerich is trying to make it into a theme park ride, John Hillcoat using it as a chance to ponder humanity, the Potter films have reached the point where the world is completely under threat and you can't swing a Mayan calendar now without coming across a zombie plague that will sweep the globe. And now even the Hughes Brothers have got good old Denzel Washington in the saddle for their own take on Armageddon.



They take the Cormac McCarthy approach and don't explain fully how we have arrived where we are, there is talk of a bright flash in the past and everyone wears sunglasses in this sandy, Mad Max-like world, so something 'Triffid' like is alluded to. Towns have the feel of those in a Western, looters and murderers line the roads, traps are set to snare you and steal your supplies. It's not as bleak as the situation in The Road, as there are more survivors, but you sense it's a lot more dangerous.

Denzel is the eponymous Eli, a lone introverted traveller who's only mission it seems is to 'Go West' (luckily to rescue the tone of the film The Hughes Brothers resist the temptation to have The Pet Shop Boys on the soundtrack). He is also carrying a book, and quite a significant book at that (there is one great visual nod to Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code phenomenon), that seems to be at the root of his quest. Which brings us to the villain of the piece, Carnegie (Gary Oldman in true British bad buy fashion) who wants to get his hands on this book as he believes it holds great power and will aid his plan for ruling the people of his town and others that neighbour it.

The problem with the film for me is that is suffers an identity crisis, it doesn't know what it wants to be. One second its a very tense, well-executed thriller, with fine action sequences, splashes of gore, in fact, again, it's very Mad Max. But then there are ponderous moments where Denzel ramps up his acting and goes into whisper-mode and the film tries to explore religion and how it can be used to rule and the power of words and ideas, which are all very interesting themes, and to the film's credit, it does get you thinking, but it just doesn't sit right alongside all the fast paced action.

It's a shame because the film does a lot very well. The Hughes Brothers have created a great looking movie, the colour palette suits the sun drenched locations, they handle the action fantastically, notably a great gun fight featuring our hero and Michael Gambon (!) where the camera sweeps around the action putting you right into the thick of it. Denzel is, well Denzel. Always dependable, doing what he does best in these types of films. Gary Oldman hams it up as the baddie and clearly loves it, but then he can do that sort of thing with his eyes closed. As far as the cast goes, its only Mila Kunis as Eli's travel companion for the second half of the film, that fails to convince. Her performance felt a bit weak compared to all the heavy hitting going on around her. Oh and Malcolm McDowell turns up at the end which is always a treat.

So when it finished, I asked myself whether I enjoyed it, and the answer is I did. The trouble was the schizophrenia that the films suffers from. It's neither one thing nor the other. I thought that I should have been more upset and affected by the film's conclusion, which is I suspect down to this failing, the action detracting from the themes running through it. At the same time I wasn't as thrilled as I should have been by the action. I was gutted because I wanted to enjoy it, The Hughes Brothers make interesting films (Menace II Society, the great looking but flawed From Hell, but most of all the fantastic Dead Presidents) and they've done it again here (it is genuinely interesting) but it just doesn't quite hit the mark......