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movie review - The Book of Eli

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

This is a science-fiction story set in a near future dystopia that is looking more and more likely by the day. Retrograde scavengers slaughter one another over scraps left over from the obviously collapsed global civilization that proceeded them. One tip this movie shares; when someone offers you a meal of "some meat I found" it's human flesh.

Our hero comes to a town where a madman possesses the "last Bible". The hero reckons the Bible should be delivered to a religious site on the west coast to help reform society around the Bible's teachings. The Bible's something of a main-stay in science fiction. So far, so good. It's "Mad Max" with a purpose.

One thing I didn't like was the morale relativism. Why save one woman but not another from assault? Because one had plot armor and the other didn't?

[ spoiler follows ]

It's revealed in the end that our hero is blind. Somehow he had the ability to engage in melee combat despite his blindness, it's the major reason he could survive day-to-day. It's a miracle. I was with this film's objectives of a Christian reboot because the chaos depicted is utter and even a return to oppressive Medieval theocracy would be better. But they had to throw in the unnecessary and ridiculous miracle.

Not recommended.