Book of Eli, The: Q2 Edition

"God is good, is he not?"
"All the time."

This starts off as "Everyone wants to kill Denzel Washington: The Movie" but ends up being a suprisingly good film with a lot of heart.

Editing was almost technically flawless, I only noticed one transition. Narratively very strong too, I couldn't tell what had been cut. The video file was only 1.5GB but still looked excellent, audio was a little murky but mostly fine.

I very much enjoyed this. It's not a great film by any stretch, but still superior to most of what Hollywood pumps out nowadays. Q2 has significantly streamlined the film by removing the irrelevant sideplots and reworking the ending, leaving behind a superior version. This'll be my go-to if I watch this again.

A truly classic example of simple, but effective editing. This has replaced the original in my collection.

Firstly, I'll say this undoubtedly improves on the movie by favoring a streamlined narrative over the longer running time. It still can't make this into an action film though, which is its strength. The decision to remove basically the central plot point (not fully shown until the end of the film) is probably a smart one. However, it removes just about the only interesting thing in the movie.

The film looks washed out (no fault of the editor) and the score might be the least interesting thing Atticus Ross has ever done. The performances are generally good, but the basic plot is just too simple and uninvolving. Despite reworking the narrative, I still just can't think of a reason to watch this movie when the Mad Max series exists, much less others. The reworking of the narrative does also leave a few scenes feeling a bit abrupt, too.

Technically very well done, but sadly just can't turn a lackluster movie into a good one. Unless you're profoundly Christian, I guess, then have at it.
Full review of the regular film here, if anyone's interested: https://letterboxd.com/nottheacademy/film/the-book-of-eli/