The Pitch: Denzel Washington and the Hughes Brothers team to bring us a post-apocalyptic action/adventure.
The Overview: Denzel Washington plays a lone traveler on a holy mission to take the last remaining bible to a place that he will know once he gets there. Gary Oldman is the town boss who wants the bible to strengthen his power over those living in his town.
The Good: Denzel is always good and this role is no exception. The concept works. Tom Waits as the town barterer. The old cannibal couple. The first action sequence set-up.
The Bad: The fight scenes go by too quickly. Not showing how Denzel got out of a locked room in which he was being held a prisoner. Later, when Denzel walks away and is being shot at, no one seems overly surprised when he is not hit. Even later, Denzel shot point blank in the stomach looks to be dying. In the next scene he slaps some duct tape on the wound and gets up to continue his journey.
The Ugly: Life in Oldman’s town. What happens if you touch Denzel after being warned not to.
The Summary: I enjoyed the movie, but wish that some of the fight scenes had been longer and clearer. I get that the intent was to show how quickly Denzel could dispatch a half dozen thugs, but it would have been more enjoyable to see the scenes as more than a blur or in shadow. I also get that Denzel’s escape from the room was supposed to be a shock to his captors, but it felt like a cheat to just accept that he was out without seeing how he did it.
I guess that’s what is a bit odd… the whole movie is about a man’s faith that God is taking him on a mission. He doesn’t know where or why, but his faith is enough to protect him and get him through to the end. Of course, faith is believing in something that you can’t directly see and yet, it was the things that I couldn’t directly see in the movie that I found to be my biggest complaint.
