Review of The Book of Eli (2010) by Philip R — 11 May 2013

I've heard of Menace II Society, seen Dead Presidents and From Hell, but THE BOOK OF ELI is the best of the Hughes Brothers movies I have ever seen. Set in a post-apocalyptic America, a mysterious lone man name Eli (Denzel Washington) walks west along the Highway of Death on a mission he doesnâ??t fully understand, but knows he must complete.

While on his journey thru the savage wastelands, He carries a backpack filled with guns, a machete, ammo, a bow and arrow, and an I-Pod. But most importantly, he carries the last copy of a sacred book, which holds secrets of saving mankind that he must protect from falling into the wrong hands of a resourceful warlord named Carnegie (Gary Oldman), who dreams of building more towns and controlling the people with the bookâ??s power.

This movie to me was an awesome, well crafted film that Allen and Albert Hughes directed. When I watched this movie, it was like looking at a painting because the colors in this movie were amazing. I thought both Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman's performances as Eli and Carnegie were each one of the best performances of theirs I've ever seen.

The fight sequences, performed by Denzel himself, were awesome to watch. I loved the fact that during the preparation of the film is that he trained in Martial Arts from Danny Inosanto, a former student and protégé of the legendary Bruce Lee himself.

I thought the Hughes brothers picked a great stunt and fight coordinator in that of Jeff Imada, who did work on the movies FIGHT CLUB, THE BOURNE IDENTITY 2 & 3, and my two favorite movies: RAPID FIRE and THE CROW.

As for the other actors: Mila Kunis (TVâ??s That 70â??s Show) as Solara, Jennifer Beals (TVâ??s The L Word) as Solaraâ??s blind mother Claudia, Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) as Carneigieâ??s enforcer Redridge, Michael Gambon (the Harry Potter trilogy) as George, musician Tom Waits as the Engineer, Frances de la Tour (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) as Martha, and Malcolm McDowell (Rob Zombieâ??s Halloween)as Lombardi were all great in their roles.

With incredible performances by two amazing actors and some awesome action sequences, THE BOOK OF ELI is one of the greatest movies Iâ??ve ever seen.