In a year that has had so many post-apocalyptic films, such as Terminator Salvation, Zombieland and the masterful The Road, do we really need to add another to the pile? You may have seen the uninspired trailer for The Book of Eli, and while the film, helmed by Menace II Society directors The Hughes Brothers, is hardly a great entertainment, it is far more amusing and smash-mouth than the toothless marketing would lead you to believe.

Taking place in 2043, where the world has been eviscerated by a catastrophic war, Eli (Denzel Washington) guards what is believed to be the final copy of the Bible in existence. He travels continuously west, believing that his faith will guide him to salvation, while trying to avoid confrontation with the bandits and cannibals that travel in packs along the road. However, after removing the heads of several troublemakers in a bar, he comes face to face with Carnegie (Gary Oldman), the tyrannical leader of the town who just happens to be searching for the book that Eli is in possession of. While Eli feels that it can bring about peace on Earth, Carnegie wants to use it to enslave the town through ideology, and so a violent, intense jostle for ownership of the book begins, with Eli receiving help from one of the town’s young women, Solara (Mila Kunis).

Reminiscent of Will Smith’s I Am Legend, The Book of Eli builds slowly to its bombast; the opening scenes are quietly compelling, as we observe Eli going about the mundanities of his isolated existence, hunting game, looting anything he can find, and indulging any small comforts possible. In fact, the opening ten minutes are virtually dialogue free; there’s no Denzel speaking to himself for the purpose of cheesy exposition, and it’s a refreshingly brave move for such an aggressively mainstream outing. Don’t worry, though, because the film also delivers on the visceral front, and within a few more moments, as Eli is confronted by a group of bandits, he proceeds to do away with their heads in a grisly, yet beautifully stylised exchange. Advertising marked this film down as nothing more than a meek 12A, but let it be known that the final product is, in the tradition of the siblings who directed the grim From Hell, a gritty and gratuitous 15.

The wasteland which Eli traverses is convincingly crafted throughout, in large part thanks to the stylish, visually appealing direction, but also due to a few little touches here and there; in a world ravaged by war, denominational currency means nothing, but items we take for granted such as fire, water, and wet wipes are vital commodities. In a world where any sort of stratified government is done away with, and where oil is nowhere to be found, the surviving denizens have nothing left to fight over but water. It isn’t Shakespeare, but the film’s take on the much-overdone post-apocalypse scenario is refreshingly feral.

Much has already been written about the film’s religious context, with less discerning critics being quick to label it as “preachy” and “pretentious”, but it is neither; there’s no grandiose message here, and it’s clear that the Hughes Brothers just wanted to make an exhilarating action film with an interesting context. If there’s anything the film does say, it’s that religion in the wrong hands can be a horrible thing, but in the right hands it can be great, and frankly, that’s something we already know; the film doesn’t pontificate, and as long as you’re comfortable as an atheist, or as a Christian, or as a whatever, then there’s nothing here to offend. Furthermore, there are so many humourous moments, from Oldman’s bad-guy hamminess (as a wonderful reprise of his role in Leon), to a baffling cameo by Michael Gambon as one-half of a creepy old couple, that the film blatantly has no intention to be self-serious, and is simply trying to be fun, which is admirable given the temptation to be didactic.

The film is undoubtedly at its best during the excellently-mounted action scenes, and one intense shootout at the aforementioned old couple’s house is particularly startling, with the Brothers smoothly passing through windows to slickly capture both sides of the carnage (in a way very reminiscent of the crack den shootout from Bad Boys 2; the film’s one truly memorable moment). Not to mention, seeing Michael Gambon railing on a fleet of bad guys with a machine gun is an undeniably entertaining sight.

It isn’t so much the film’s execution that prevents it from going any further, but the initial premise, which is itself outright flawed by its thorough implausibility. In a late scene of exposition, we learn that the apocalyptic war was believed to be religious in context, and it’s quite a leap to believe that everyone who was even acutely aware of religion has been killed in a mere 35 years. While all but one Bible has been destroyed, the oratory tradition would have kept it alive, and it is a major conceit only worth buying because of the slick and refreshingly inventive visceral treatment. That isn’t all, though; Oldman’s character is at one point like a parody of a Bond villain, having Eli down for the count but ridiculously not killing him, and the film introduces one utterly batty plot twist late in the game that may be one contrivance too many.

Ultimately the question becomes how you’re reading the film, because as a serious actioner, it doesn’t much work. However, as a film that holds its hands up, flagrantly admitting its silliness and revelling in it (cemented by Malcolm McDowell’s laughable hairpiece in the third act), it is a surprising amount of unpretentious fun.