Quick Review: The Book Of Eli

It's amazing how many times life as we know it has come to an end in movies, especially if you count films like "Zombieland." The latest post-apocalyptic flick is "The Book Of Eli," in which the world has been pretty much destroyed (nuclear holocaust, presumably) and, for whatever reason, every copy of the Bible has been destroyed. Eli (Denzel Washington) is on a mission to take the last copy of the King James Bible in existence out to the West Coast for some reason. He has mad fighting skills, which come in handy in a violent, post-apocalyptic world. In addition, despite everything having been in ruins for some time, he has a working iPod. On his cross-country walk and needing his portable battery recharged, he arrives in a wreck of a town which is controlled by Carnegie (Gary Oldman), who at first treats Eli well until he learns Eli has a copy of the Bible. Carnegie wants the Bible to use its words to keep the people of his town under control and to expand his "empire." I kind of had some low expectations -- I'm not big on religious overtones and some of this is probably derivative of the "Mad Max" films (I say "probably" because I've never seen them) -- but I was pleasantly surprised. My grade: B.