About "Book of Eli"

Spoiler!

The plot can be summarized as follows: in a post-apocalyptic world, guided by faith (and a voice in his head) wanderer (Denzel Washington) saves from oblivion the last copy of ...the Bible. Yes, not the Koran, not the book of Mormon, only the last copy of the Bible. Causing this disputable service to humanity, apart from the Bible and faith, our hero has a machete, bow, and gun and uses them with suspiciously deadly accuracy. It doesn't seem to be very Christian to me. Could it be directors were inspired by Old Testament's prophets and heroes who weren't holding back from extreme violence? If so, then they were not trying hard enough. Old Testament remains still far more brutal.

But what is more interesting: the film suggests the surviving people have destroyed almost all copies of the Holy Scriptures. Could it be a religious conflict which cased such destruction? Some light on this issue sheds main 'bad' character - gang chieftain and leader of the small town (Gary Oldmnan). He wants to get the Bible at any price - as a powerful weapon allowing totalitarian control over hearts and minds of human masses. The marriage of religion and politics - that's how you supposed to rebuild civilization and create an empire.

Instead of emphasizing such interesting and iconoclastic conclusions, the filmmakers go into a preaching mode. Encountered chick (Mila Kunis) almost immediately assimilates prayer and begins to believe - despite of initial restraint from God's man-on-the-mission. Such a quick and blind conversion is not really convincing. Interesting is the fact Eli has been already wandering 30 years through apocalyptic wilderness on his way from New York to California. According to Google Maps it should take 39 days and 4 or 5 hours. However, what would you expect from God knowing the biblical Israelites had been wandering for 40 years through much smaller desert on their way to Land of Promise?

In conclusion this post apocalyptic action flick has its strange religious component. For this reason it may be interesting but makes no sense. Considering violence and geopolitical issues I think Koran would fit better and would be more convincing than the Bible. It would better serve to the plot. A little slow, strange and not convincing but there are some good moments and unexpected surprises.

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