The Book of Eli in cinemas now

I saw this movie a few days ago. The PA setting is good, the "world" looks good, Denzel and Gary Oldman are good, the second half is wretched. I actually regret having gone to see it, to be honest.

I have a hunch The Book of Eli started out with the writer trying to come up with an interesting story. The vestiges of it are still there. Whether or not he succeeded, we'll never know, because at some point the usual Hollywood plot mutilators and Mila Kunis's agent (Grrrl Power!) got ahold of it and turned it into rubbish.

Bleh.
 
I've seen people ripping on her before, and I never really had much of an opinion, but she's downright bad in The Book of Eli. Ruin the movie bad. Actually, that's an overstatement. The movie still wouldn't be good if her character were deleted, but it would be better. She doesn't have the acting power to keep up with Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman either.

I'm going to stop thinking about this movie now because it annoys me.
 
Saw the film. Honestly, the religious element killed the entire films potential impact.

For one reason, religion is the ultimate Deus Ex Machina, and Deus Ex Machinas suck in these type of stories.

Two, alot of people are saying "Ignore the religon, be all cerebal and shit and make up your own opinion on justifying how my obscure observations make this film about religion being bad". No douchebarf, what's on the screen is simple theistic afterbirth. Being existential and shit doesn't make the movie any better.

What's worse is that religion is using the post-apoc franchises as a vehicle to pull in the young with justification of violence and fucking on a nitro truck. It's basically a representation of the Alabama/Georgia/South Carolina trailer park mentality.

Post apoc is so deep, complex, interesting, and emotionally challenging because it's a scenario with no "Right" answers, and every action a person does is just one invented scenario with consequences. This movie jizzez on that concept.
 
I wish they would have tried to go in a directoin like the Story from Stalker (Not the game, the russian book and movie), where they are searching in a devasteated landscape for the "wish machine" for the lack of better words to describe it. Everyone with his own motivations behind it. Pretty interesting.
 
Dopemine Cleric said:
Two, alot of people are saying "Ignore the religon, be all cerebal and shit and make up your own opinion on justifying how my obscure observations make this film about religion being bad". No douchebarf, what's on the screen is simple theistic afterbirth. Being existential and shit doesn't make the movie any better.
Click to expand...
I pretty much agree, but I have this suspicion the script started out better than it ended up. At some point the money people said "Let's make it pro-Christian." :clap:

"Oh, and let's write in a "buddy" part for Mila Kunis while we're at it." :clap:

:|

It's like how the original script for Pretty Woman ended with Richard Gere's character throwing a wad of money in Julia Roberts's character's face and driving away. :mrgreen:
 
UniversalWolf said:
"Oh, and let's write in a "buddy" part for Mila Kunis while we're at it." :clap:
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree because I would like to molest every inch of that woman... especially those abs. :D


I couldn't be that critical of the movie. I was too impressed with teh awesome that a post apoc film was released and it was fucking dark and twisted.

I do agree however, that the film would have been much more attractive to me were it a different religious text.
 
The book being the Bible is a bit of a turn off for me too and makes the film seem much less intriguing, but according to the low-spoiler review I've seen [spoiler:78d3f66641]there's a twist at the end[/spoiler:78d3f66641] and that could be the film's saving grace.

The heavy religious imagery in I Am Legend already disappointed me. Doesn't stop me from hoping for a good movie tho.

EDIT: Just read the plot summary on Wikipedia and came to realize [spoiler:78d3f66641]it's worse than I Am Legend and sounds more like a American Christian fundamentalist circle-jerk than a post-apoc treat[/spoiler:78d3f66641].

Disappointing, really.
 
If the book was the lost and found complete rough-draft of "The Mysterious Stranger", and the film went along that philosophical route, I would have cried jizz out of my eyes in joy for the rest of my life.

On one condition, Denzel was replaced by Christopher Walken.
 
Eh, just saw it today. I was expecting total propaganda but I was pleasantly surprised not to get choked to death by religion.

I mean, Denzel wasn't bible beating and preaching to everone. He just didn't want to get fucked with. Hell, the even show his human side where he has to choose between reality and ideological principles.

All in all, I really liked the twist and it atleast explains how Denzel would have such skills.

On another note, I want mroe PA movies with lost technology as a focus.
 
alec said:
Ought to watch this for the setting, not so much the story.

Flick would have been better of if the book turned out to be schedules for a nuclear reactor.

Would have been epic if Eli was delusional and had been protecting a comic or a phonebook.
Click to expand...

For some reason this made me think of the phone book scene from "The Jerk" :lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top