The Book of Eli
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Metascore
53 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 33 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 317 Ratings

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  • Starring: Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson
  • Summary: In the not-too-distant future, some 30 years after the final war, a solitary man walks across the wasteland that was once America. A warrior not by choice but necessity, Eli seeks only peace but, if challenged, will cut his attackers down before they realize their fatal mistake. It's not his life he guards so fiercely but his hope for the future; a hope he has carried and protected for 30 years and is determined to realize. Driven by this commitment and guided by his belief in something greater than himself, Eli does what he must to survive--and continue. Eli must keep moving to fulfill his destiny and bring help to a ravaged humanity. Only one other man in this ruined world understands the power Eli holds, and is determined to make it his own: Carnegie. (Warner Bros.)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 33
  3. Negative: 4 out of 33
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    The film looks and feels good, and Washington's performance is the more uncanny the more we think back over it. The ending is "flawed," as we critics like to say, but it's so magnificently, shamelessly, implausibly flawed that (a) it breaks apart from the movie and has a life of its own, or (b) at least it avoids being predictable.
  2. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    75
    The Book of Eli works, even if the preservation of Christianity isn’t high on your personal post-apocalypse bucket list. Establishing its storytelling rules clearly and well, the film simply is better, and better-acted, than the average end-of-the-world fairy tale.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    60
    The Hughes Brothers' measured, well-paced direction complements the comic-book simplicity of this narrative.
  4. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    A didactic and humorless Western, Eli is too laborious for an action film and too brutal to be an inspirational tale.

See all 33 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 100 out of 134
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 134
  3. Negative: 23 out of 134
  1. Lovejoy
    9
    ''this was a great movie i love movies about apocolypses denzel gives a powerful performance as eli mila kunis was sexy and the cast was good its a must see u will like it… Expand
  2. RedShadowHat
    8
    Great movie but terrible dialogue. The religious views of Christianity and the bible are both realistic and non-realistic. Denzel did great, he would have been fantastic if they decided to hire a better writer and maybe a better directer.… Expand
  3. grandpajoe6191
    5
    The Hughes Brothers' "The Book of Eli" is a entertaining movie with a solid grim tone and quick, fast paced action. However, it could have done so much more than consistently managing it's apocalyptic mood...… Expand
  4. AlanR.
    4
    The movie was, for the first part beautifully shot (although the opening scene is ponderous and needless) and there are about two really good action scenes in there. With some original material but the script is crap. The dialogue is boring and uninspired. The character motivations don't make any sense. Eli:If he's memorized the book why take such risks to preserve it). Oldman: If most people can't read but will listen to you if you read from "the book". Then it stands to reason that you could tell them anything, or read from any other book. Solara: Is she really that naive that she thinks she will be safer with Eli? All culminating in an ending so disjointed that I was shocked to see a single writing credit. The most annoying thing is there are a half dozen ways to have made this movie. When studios don't even devote five brain cells to the plot is sort of like getting a big F-U from Hollywood.… Expand

See all 134 User Reviews

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