Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2010

©2010 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved

In the mood for a religion-themed, post-apocalyptic samurai/western/superhero thriller starring Denzel Washington? Look no further. Denzel’s this guy who’s been walking across America for 30 years carrying what we are led to believe is the last known copy of the Bible and defending it from the usual Mad Max cast of roadside hijackers, thieves and cannibals with a deftly used scimitar along with some lethal chop-socky and pistolero skills. He eventually ambles into a town straight out of Sergio Leone and runs afoul of strongman Gary Oldman in well-practiced bad-guy mode. I enjoyed it, or at least the first two-thirds, on an artfully filmed, kick-ass level, but the final act gets a little loopy with contrivances and implausibilities. And I had trouble with the Oldman character’s rabid motivation for possessing and using the Good Book for evil. Just how? And why were all the other Bibles destroyed? For a movie with a spiritual theme, it’s amazingly not too preachy, though a comic touch or two wouldn’t have been out of place. But it keeps you watching, and deep down you’re thinking, “Thank Buddha Kevin Costner didn’t get hold of this.”