Imagine: The world is a post-apocalyptic wasteland without much greenery. Technologies resembling designer Ray Bans and iPod-like musical devices float around to those lucky enough to find them, and there is only one King James Bible left in the world and many wouldn’t know what it was if you asked them. That’s pretty much the gist of The Book of Eli.
If there is one thing that Michael Cera is good at, it’s playing Michael Cera. He has that adorably awkward thing about him that makes him undeniably lovable and it seems that filmmakers have taken notice. Ever since his portrayal of George Michael Bluth in Arrested Development, Cera has been awkwardly attempting to woo and bed hot, quirky women on screen.
In an age of dying print media—when many newspapers are going under and books that were once in the hands of many have been replaced with video games, the Internet and television—graphic novels are doing remarkably well. Not quite comics but not quite novels, they combine wonderful artistry and inspired writing in a way nothing else seems to.
It is clear within the first 10 minutes of Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of the classic literary detective that this is not your grandfather’s Sherlock Holmes. Using more brawn than brain (though, to be fair, Holmes certainly takes a moment to inspect his opponent for weaknesses in order to fight him properly—literally slowing the film to show the step-by-step process prior to the actual beat-down), Holmes captures the wicked Lord Blackwood in the first scene. Of course, this is not without the help of his legendary partner, Dr. Jonathan Watson.