Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Book of Eli Review: Warning contains spoilers*


I was hesitant to see this movie because I'm no longer a fan or rated R or violence. I like to keep it PG and under. But after reading a fellow Christian blogger talk about it and how it has a great message. I felt compelled to check it out.


For the record, sorry it has taken so long to post this, but I have had tons of stuff going on.


My husband and I went to see it on our date night and we were in agreement that if it got to be too much we would leave. Well I'm so glad we saw this movie! There was a little more violence than I would have liked, but it was fantastic.


Quick synopsis: Eli (Denzel Washington) has been traveling for 30 years to the "west" in order to bring a specific set of people the book he carries. He comes across a town where Carnegie is in charge (Gary Oldman) who has been looking for the book since the great war. Every copy of the book had been destroyed because it was considered powerful. Carnegie finds out Eli has the book and tries to take it from him.

Spoilers start here:
Most people already know that the book Eli is carrying is the Bible. It was so amazing to see the devotion and care he took to protect it. I also took note that it was the only book that was destroyed completely. They had made mention of its power, its message, and that it started the war. It really felt like more of a glimpse of the future than a movie. How many people in the last days will be so threatened by the Word of God that they will go to great lengths to destroy the message of hope?


Another part of the movie that spoke to me was when Eli was describing how he found the book. He said he heard a voice telling him where to go that was coming from inside him not around him. Wow! The Holy Spirit speaks to us in this manner and I really think they (filmmakers, screenwriters, and actors) did a great job of portraying the communication with God that Christians feel in a respectable manner. Basically they didn't make us out to be crazy people that "hear voices".


I almost cried at the end when he could recite the whole bible from memory. I want that kind of devotion to the Word to where I can recite what the Lord has written. This movie more affirmed my faith than tore it down like most movies these days do. It really inspired me to go home and read my Bible.


I will not endorse this as a family movie in anyway. There are plenty of parts they could have done without in my opinion, but I thought it was great for couples and for those that like action and love the Lord.

1 comment:

  1. My husband and I saw this together, too, and we felt the same way! It really did show the power of the Word of God! The violence was a bit extreme, though, but we liked the movie overall.

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