Reel Critic:

The Hughes Brothers, Allen and Albert, made an auspicious debut when they released their explosive and gritty first feature film, “Menace II Society,” in 1993. The twins were barely 21 years old when this film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. “Menace II Society” was a smashing success and ended up grossing nearly 10 times its modest budget of $3 million. The Hughes Brothers’ record since has been spotty, with a modest success or two along the way, but perhaps not to the extent suggested by their earliest work.

The most recent Hughes Brothers project is “The Book of Eli,” starring Denzel Washington. Set some time in the future, the film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world that appears to have been nearly totally destroyed by nuclear war. The few pathetic survivors scrounge for food, water and shelter, avoiding marauding gangs that seem to be everywhere. Many of the survivors were blinded by the initial blasts or the radiation afterward. Given the almost complete annihilation of nearly all animal and plant life, cannibalism is rampant.

Since the calamity, Eli (Washington) has wandered seemingly aimlessly for nearly 30 years although he claims to be heading west. Eli zealously guards a leather-bound manuscript, which he consults regularly. Eli has considerable survival skills and manages to hunt food, find shelter and violently dispatch any would-be attackers.

Eli’s travels eventually find him in a ruined town reminiscent of the Wild West. The town is ruled by Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a frightening despot with an army of thugs. Carnegie uses his cache of water, food and liquor to control everyone, including his blind wife (Jennifer Beals) and her daughter, Solara (Mila Kunis).

I will warn that the following is a bit of a “spoiler,” although this element is revealed very early in the picture. Eli’s manuscript is a Bible, the New Testament specifically. Apparently, the Bibles that weren’t destroyed in the war were systematically burned afterward as many people blamed religion for causing the Holocaust. Carnegie has been ruthlessly searching for a Bible for years as he believes the narrative is so powerful it will allow him to control mankind. Not surprisingly, Eli will not relinquish his book, and he again heads west with Solara accompanying him as they both run from Carnegie.

“The Book of Eli” has several considerable problems regarding the plot, but the scarcity of the Bible and the near impossibility of finding one really strains credibility. Since the invention of the printing press, various estimates calculate there have been between 7 billion and 10 billion copies of the Bible printed. In the film, other books have survived and KFC wet wipes are a form of currency. People have clothing, guns, cars, motorcycles, gasoline and other possessions, but no Bible.

Not only does this seem unlikely in the extreme, it is equally far-fetched that Carnegie thinks he can persuade a world of nonbelievers to embrace his proposed ministry just by possessing a single copy. Carnegie claims to have been raised in a religious household. Surely he can remember enough of the Bible to employ it for his nefarious purposes.

“The Book of Eli” features good performances and production values. However, the unbelievable story renders it not worth seeing in my view.

VAN NOVACK is the assistant vice president of institutional research and assessment at Cal State Long Beach and lives in Huntington Beach with his wife, Elizabeth.