Thirty years ago, the war tore a hole in the sky and left America a cannibalistic wasteland of roaming nomads who rape and plunder without mercy. Wandering through the desert is a lone man with a backpack, a machete, and a very special book. Eli (Denzel Washington) is a man with a goal. That goal is to get to the west coast, no matter what happens. He’s carrying what he says is the last remaining copy of The Holy Bible. (I’d feel that’s a bit of a spoiler, but that fact is blatantly given away in the marketing for the film, so I imagine everyone knows.) And does he ever defend it. Five years ago, this would have been a Wesley Snipes vehicle. Black man uses a bladed weapon to hack through an army of thugs? Try not putting Wesley Snipes in this movie! However, thanks to Snipes’ tax problems and general descent into Steven Seagal territory, the role falls to Denzel Washington, who lends to the movie his peculiar tone and an acting range that elevates the material beyond what it should otherwise have been. The film has a really distinct style, thanks to direction from tag-team directors Allen and Albert Hughes. While the pair went off the rails a bit after the box office failing of From Hell, they seem to have recovered their form very well here. Say what you want to about them, the brothers Hughes know how to frame a really good shot. The movie is torn from the spaghetti western style book, with lots of long shots of Eli walking through the desert, gunfights in the middle of town, and, of course, some damsel in distress action provided by Solara. It is a little slow to start, and the last five or 10 minutes could have been cut off so as not to lose the impact of a big, legitimately surprising reveal at the end. Once it gets started, though, the movie moves along quite nicely from scene to scene, sprinkling the combat around the plot very effectively. There’s a great message in there about the various ways people use belief as a crutch for their own motivations, should you want to see it, but even if you’re not interested, there’s still an awesome actor wielding a machete while another awesome actor evils it up in intellectually malevolent style. If you like post-apocalyptic action like I do, The Book Of Eli will not be a disappointing 118 minutes. In the hands of the wrong crew, this could have been crap. However, this movie was in the right hands all along. Stylish and well-acted all the way through, with a secret smart streak. A rare, enjoyable combination. US correspondent Ron Hogan is in the market for a face-shredding blade and a ragged set of leathers. When the cannibal bikers come, he’ll be ready. Find more by Ron at his blog, Subtle Bluntness and daily at Shaktronics and PopFi.