Critique of the Book of Eli

Critique of The Book of Eli

Apocalypse, which is a term referring to the belief that the world will come to an end. Some people believe that the world will end in their lifetime and others believe that it will end billions of years from now. People believe that the end of civilization will be due to a nuclear war, plague, or some otherworldly disaster. For year's authors and directors have been composing stories of what the world would be like post-apocalypse. After reading a book or watching a movie about the apocalypse people often think what if I was one of the only people left on Earth post-apocalypse?

Most apocalyptic stories are also action- thrillers, which include a lot of violence and antagonist. Humans love violence, "by the time the average American child is 18 they will have watched 200,000 acts of violence on TV (Allen 2). These acts of violence are watched so often, yet have the simplest formulas for a successful story. Most people expect for the good guys to succeed in their mission to defeat the bad guys. Often times before the good guys conquer all, one of the good guys will be killed to heighten the dramatic impact of the story. Not only is it the good versus evil archetype that people look for in an action thriller, but also the violence. Also, people look for a good cameraman that uses the special filming techniques. These appeal to the eyes and make the viewer more interested in the movie. The setting of action thrillers is really important because people expect for cool special affects. To complete the perfect visual the costumes must be unique and unusual, so people will be more enthralled when they watch it. Unsurprisingly, the biggest fans of action- thrillers are men because they often seek out the natural high. Also, action thrillers consist of cliffhangers that reach until the climax of the movie, which makes the audience sit on the edge of their seats. Usually towards the end of the action thrillers there is a twist in the movie. The twist always leans in the favor of the good guys, leading to a satisfied audience at the end of the movie. Action thrillers have many different characteristics mostly linking back to violence.

To illustrate the perfect post-apocalyptic action thriller movie, the Hughes Brothers directed The Book of Eli in 2010. The movie begins with a man walking in the woods; he shoots a cat, and then goes to a shack to eat it. The next day the man, Eli, continues on his journey west. Along the way Eli witnesses a rape and two attacks, and the viewer begins to figure out that the society Eli is living in is corrupt. Eli must protect himself, so he continues on his journey, and stumbles upon a developing city(IMDB 1). The city is run by a couple that is looking for a specific book, and everyday they have servants search for it. Their city consists of run down buildings and tents for the people to live in. The couple, Carnegie and Claudia, invite Eli to stay the night. During the night Carnegie sends Eli, a young girl named Solora. Eli is infuriated by this gesture, so he leaves the town early. Solora returns in the morning to her mother, Claudia, and she recites a prayer. Carnegie is taken aback and realizes that Eli has the book he has wanted all along, The Bible. Carnegie forces his men to find Eli and retrieve the book. Solora has escaped and is following Eli. In the fight for the book, Eli and Solora are in a weapons battle with Carnegie's men. Several of Carnegie's men die, bullets are fired, knives are thrown, and Eli is shot in the stomach. After the battle scene, Eli seems to be invincible, but the audience soon finds out that the bad guys have stolen the book from Eli. When the book is taken back to Carnegie there is twist, which leads to Carnegie's death. The movie ends with Eli's goals being accomplished and the audience satisfied.

In the end, The Book of Eli accomplishes all of the goals of a good action thriller. It is very appealing to watch because of the camera shots. The setting is on Earth after the apocalypse, so everything is run down. Sometimes there are not people for miles and miles away. The few people that are on the Earth are scavengers, thieves, or homeless and these people live with no morals. The world is in a time where everyone looks out for himself or herself. To complete the theme of the movie the characters, in The Book of Eli, have costumes