This past Saturday Marcia and I watched “I Am Legend” starring Will Smith. This is the third movie based on the 1954 published novel by Richard Matheson of the same name. However, this is the first of the three movies to actually use the name of the novel.
Here is a plot synopsis that I found at IMDB.Com which was provided by the studio itself, Warner Bros. Pictures:
Robert Neville (Smith) is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City (in 2012) and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague - The Infected - lurk in the shadows … watching Neville’s every move … waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind’s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered … and quickly running out of time.
I have not read the novel, but may want to some day. I have read that there are differences between this movie and the novel. One is rather significant, which deals with the ending of the book/movie. However, it seems the movie pulled things together to make the title sit well. I also found out that there is an alternate ending. In some ways better then the theatrical release, but in others it doesn’t really matter too much to me.
The amazing thing about the movie is seeing New York empty. Neville roams the streets looking for anything he can use. Searching houses and stores. Hunting the deer that now run wild in Manhattan. There was some incredible work involved.
Smith too turns in some great acting. It is always easier to act with someone. And other then a dog, Smith has no one (at least for the first hour of the movie). We see the toll being alone has taken on him, where he has set up mannequins around a media store that he borrows DVD’s from, and he talks to them as if they are his friends. There are other things too that bring into focus the mental problems that one could procure in such a situation. The emotion that Smith gives us is real, and very good.
The computer animated Infected were well put together. They were neither vampire or zombies. Gave them more value to me, and more respect for the movie in general. Some very good work in setting up an encounter that Neville has with them when he finds a hive of them. It is one of the best instances of fright as well as foreshadowing that I have seen. (Of course I don’t make it a habit of watching horror movies, so my limits are tame.) The story worked really well for a movie too, regardless of what the book does. Though nearing the end with one aspect, I found a little too overworked. But given Neville’s disbelief and desire to continue his stance, it didn’t ruin the movie.
I am sure die-hards of the book might have been disappointed. For those like me that enjoy Smith’s talent, and hadn’t read the book or have much to expect from the movie, it turned out to be a genuinely entertaining flick.
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