I’m late to the theater on this one. I’ve wanted to watch it since its 2010 release, but it always struck me as far too bleak for whatever mood I was in – and I was right. It is bleak.
The world suffered an apocalypse, and now humanity scrounges in the mud and dust just to survive. The opening sequence shows our hero, Eli – played by the brilliant Denzel Washington – skewering and eating a cat. Roving gangs of bikers rule the wastelands between destitute cities full of junk dealers bartering for scraps, and clean water has become the most precious commodity in existence.
Eli, however, is on a mission from God. He has a holy book, a copy of the King James Bible, and the voice of God told him to take that book West. Carnegie, a mayor/thug played by the ever-delightful Gary Oldman, also wants the book, and he’s willing to kill anyone to get his hands on it. Mix in slave-girl Solara, Mila Kunis of “That ‘70s Show” and “Bad Moms” fame, and you pretty much have the main characters.
The mythology surrounding that Bible, however, attempts to elevate this film to something more than your traditional dystopian action flick. Eli heard the voice of God 30 years earlier, and he’s been walking west ever since, basically traveling his own Pilgrim’s Progress of which we see only the final leg. Carnegie knows the power of religion and holy books for controlling a population, though, and he’s willing to throw all his resources (expendable thugs/movie extras) into acquiring it so he can maintain his position of power. It’s a fascinating examination of the power of faith vs. the power of institutionalized religion – or at least, it COULD be if the filmmakers had chosen to explore that just a bit more. Instead, we receive just a taste of that conflict in the midst of shootouts, cannibalism, desperation, and endless…endless…endless wastelands upon which to walk or drive.
Speaking of all that walking/driving…why did Eli always walk along the highway where anyone with a running vehicle could catch up with him? And in a world where water is precious, where did the bad guy get his endless supply of gasoline? Good questions that were never dealt with at all. And though the film makes a really big deal about the power of that King James Bible to rescue humanity from all the desolation, what about holy books from the rest of the world? A Quran? A Torah? The Vedas? The Tipitaka? There are more religions in the world than just Christianity, but this is a very Euro-Christian centric narrative.
Overall, “The Book of Eli” is a good action flick with an undercurrent about the power of faith, but it could have been so much more if they had taken the time to explore those ideas a bit more. Regarding Bechdels, it fails: 1) There are actually four women with important roles in this film, but only Solara (Mila Kunis) has any substantial screen time; 2) she talks with her mother (Jennifer Beals) a couple times, but…; 3) those conversations always revolve around the protagonist, Eli. This one absolutely focuses on the male experiences – the conflict between Denzel Washington’s Eli and Gary Oldman’s Carnegie – and every woman in it only serves to further that storyline.