'The Book of Eli' a little too arty, a little too trite

On paper, or on a computer screen, "The Book of Eli" must have looked like an irresistible synthesis of popular Hollywood genres. It's a science-fiction thriller, a samurai epic, a spaghetti western, an apocalyptic religious drama and an "Odyssey"-like quest all rolled up into one style-overloaded, color-bled cinematic ball.

This is the first feature directed by the Hughes Brothers - Allen and Albert - since 2001's "From Hell." And like that Jack the Ripper opus, "The Book of Eli" slowly buckles under the weight of its pretentious artiness, here, a constant parade of slow-motion shots and bleak landscapes of a desolated world in ruin.

As we quickly discover, the old world has been wiped out by some kind of natural phenomenon involving a hole in the atmosphere and a "flash" that fried most of the world's population, leaving behind scattered groups of survivors constantly being assaulted by roving gangs of rapists and cannibalistic predators.

Denzel Washington plays an enigmatic traveler on a quest to head west.

His mission is to take an old, tattered book to some vague place of sanctuary, and it doesn't take long to figure out what the book really is, and that he might be under the protection of a higher power.

The traveler starts out by slicing the hand off a ruffian gang leader, then wiping out his crew with a mean-looking machete, all captured in stylish backlighting so as to hide the fact that a stunt double is doing all the heavy martial arts lifting.

The traveler wanders in to a town that could be a tattered Dodge City in its original form. The place is run by a self-annointed boss named Carnegie (Gary Oldman), significantly introduced reading a biography of Mussolini.

Being one of few people left who can read, Carnegie understands the value of the book the traveler is carrying, and realizes with such a book, he could take control of the world with its "feeble" and "desperate" people looking for leadership and inspiration.

When Carnegie can't buy or convince the traveler to part with his book, the two become enemies, setting up a violent chase for the rest of the movie.

The Hughes Brothers hardly vary the slow and downer tone of "The Book of Eli," save for one welcome sequence where the traveler and Carnegie's in-house hottie (Mila Kunis, with the significant name of Solara) take refuge in a booby-trapped house run by a sociable, elderly couple (Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour) who play the pop tune "Ring My Bell" on a vintage Victrola.

If only the rest of "The Book of Eli" could ring anyone else's.