Overstylized, overdramatic and overcooked are all understatements when describing Albert and Allen Hughes’ The Book of Eli. The only facet of it I can speak highly of is Gary Oldman, who finally returns to the baddie throne he built so long ago. Otherwise, the film is just an exercise in technological possibilities on the part of the directors and their team. We come along for their ride.

Let’s start with the visuals, which is clearly where The Hughes Brothers devoted most of their efforts. Taking a page out of the Sin City and 300 playbooks, the film is mostly greenscreened footage over a hyper-realistic backdrop. It’s a style, no doubt, but one that is more grating than it is interesting in this instance. Shot on the RED camera, foreground imagery seems to break apart very quickly, at least on the print I saw. I don’t care how many “K”s they put in the resolution, it really did not mix well with the synthesized backgrounds. Besides that, this steampunk-chic post-apocalypse is nothing new to audiences. So what do the Hughes Brothers bring to the table that maybe we haven’t seen before? God! Read on…