The Book of Eli

He has won Oscars, starred on Broadway and still ranks as one of the coolest men on the planet. What is left for him to accomplish? Denzel wants to kick some boo-tay!

Washington stars as a mysterious man surviving in a post-apocalyptic world (we've been getting a lot of that lately at the movies). He is one of the few who survived whatever nuclear holocaust destroyed most of humanity 30 years ago, and claims he is on a mission to head west. Why? He carries a rare and powerful book that can change humanity as it now exists.

Along the way, he comes across a small, Wild West-like town run by Carnegie (Gary Oldman). This gang leader keeps everyone under his thumb as one of the few people left who can read, and with his knowledge of a rare source of clean water. To complete his control over the survivors and expand his empire, Carnegie is looking for the same book.

What is this book?

Will Carnegie get his grubby paws on it?

How much booty will Denzel kick?

The Book of Eli is kind of like the big Hollywood-style version of The Road (an awesome movie no one has seen), but has lots going for it underneath the glitz and explosions (maybe The Road needed more glitz and explosions). Written by Gary Whitta and directed by The Hughes Brothers (Allen and Albert), The Book of Eli is full of action, some intrigue, and a very daring story about the book and what it can do. I just wish they worked a bit harder on the script.

The Book of Eli has some great ideas, but they don't quite get developed enough to become fascinating subplots or daring debates. Instead, The Hughes Brothers are trying too hard to establish mood with lots of sweeping shots of the bleak desert landscape that focus on scenes of death and destruction. We get it. The world has been destroyed. Let's move on. The audience can use more dialogue and the development of the various relationships we see throughout The Book of Eli, but it's not the worst movie we will see this year.

The script doesn't matter too much, since The Hughes Brothers are resting the success or failure of The Book of Eli on the movie's three big stars - Washington, Oldman and Mila Kunis (a smart move when you have two major league actors and a very cute girl). Washington (as if you had any doubt) is fantastic as always. Sure, he might have taken the role to have some fun as the booty busting bad man who wants to save humanity, but he also brings the weight and stature needed to make us believe it. The semi far-fetched idea feels real and tangible because of his ability to breath fire and brimstone when Eli shows his devotion, and wins us over with his eagerness to do good when that is needed even more.

Then, Oldman makes for a wonderful foe. He can bring some levity to situations written to make us laugh in a darkly comedic way and has an intensity to match Washington. Most of all, he makes Carnegie into a scary man, even though he obviously is surrounded by a group of marauders who could easily beat him up and dispatch him on the side of the road at the drop of a hat.

Then, we have Kunis. I feel bad for her because not many young actresses could stand toe to toe with actors like Oldman and Washington. However, the make up team, costume crew and The Hughes Brothers could have helped her out. She's too pretty and clean to be the barmaid in an apocalyptic town as she is cast here (the role calls for someone as dirty and haggard as Lindsay Lohan or Snooki from Jersey Shore).

Kunis handles the character's lack of education and desire to learn very well without making it mockable, but she doesn't have the range to be as tough as the kid supposedly becomes as she spends time with Washington's character. As the two walk down the dusty road, you believe Washington is a tough dude and one man wrecking crew who has seen the worst the world has to offer (and kicked its booty!). Kunis looks like one of the Olsen Twins rocking the hobo look as she crosses the street in Soho.

Don't worry if you have heard the big surprise about what book is being saved. You get a few more surprises in The Book of Eli that make it worth watching all the way to the end, even if it drones on and on and on towards that ending.

The Book of Eli is rated R for some brutal violence and language.