"The Book of Eli" (opened January 15 throughout San Diego) is a story about a man in a post-apocalyptic world trying to protect a book. The book is very important and some would kill to have it but he is willing to die protecting it.
Eli (Denzel Washington) has been traveling west for 30 years. West, he says, is the only safe place for the book according to the voice of a Higher Being that he hears. Throughout his travels he's been trapped and attacked by highjackers many times. He only fights to protect the book, not to save others from harm. Eli travels through a town to find water, but the town boss, Carnegie (Gary Oldman), has been searching for the book Eli possesses and wants to unlock its powers. Therefore Carnegie tries to convince Eli to stay in town. When he fails, Carnegie attempts to kill him and take the book.
While escaping the town, a young girl named Solara (Mila Kunis) joins Eli on his venture west. Then Carnegie sends out his thugs to find and kill Eli to take the book. In the end you find out more about Eli and his connection to the book. We really see why west was the only safe place for the Eli's book, and why Carnegie needed the book.
“The Book of Eli” is a really good film. I think they get their point about religion across with out it being boring and with all audiences being able to relate to it. I didn't expect half the things that happened in this film to happen so it kept me on my toes and held my interest. I haven't seen many post-apocalyptic films but this one is one of the best because it could happen. It's not off the wall like zombies or and alien attacks. This movie was realistic and well shot, which it partly why it's so good. This film also has many intense fight sequences. I wouldn't say it's gory but I wouldn't allow a child to see this film because of the violence. The violence is appropriate for the message that the film wants to send.
“The Book of Eli” helps people appreciate religion and their freedom of education. You never realize how powerful the Bible is until you see how it would be if it were gone. In my opinion Denzel Washington did an amazing job acting as Eli in this film, Also Mila Kunis played Solara very well. It may be the first time I've taken her seriously in her career.
I highly recommend watching “The Book of Eli” (rated R for for some brutal violence and language). No matter what genre you may prefer, this film is versatile and easily makes you think twice about true belief.
--Felicia Lomeli is a senior at Mount Miguel High School. Her favorite films are "Party Monster," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," and "The Devil’s Rejects.” She also wants to be a film critic because she believes the youth opinion matters and because she has a deep love for all types of films that are interesting.
