The Book of Eli was not a movie I was initially drawn to when it appeared in theaters. The lone wanderer in a post-apocalyptic world is not my favorite plot line, and the religious tones of the film put me off as well.

I thought I would give it a try though when it rolled into the store. I was surprised at how engaged I became right off the bat. I had forgotten how well the Hughes brothers can direct.

The beginning of the film relies on visuals mostly and that can be a hard thing to pull off unless it is done right. Denzel Washington plays his Eli character with quiet humor that made me like him right away. And honestly it has been awhile since I liked him in anything.

The action sequences were awesome, one in particular towards the beginning actual made me giggle it was so cool. Washington did many of his own stunts for the hand to hand combat stuff, and the results paid off.

Story was good (nice twist ending), hero was good (Washington redeemed himself a bit for me), villain was great (Gary Oldman…can’t go wrong there!), and the visuals were stunning.

This is definitely a movie worth watching!