I Am Legend (2007)

Sooner or later...they will find you

At first I had next to no interest to go see I AM LEGEND when I first heard of it's release and it's promotional advertising. It seemed like another film following in on the success of such films as 2004's Dawn of the Dead or even 28 Days Later. I soon found many people I knew raving about it just because it was an intelligent film. No one seemed to compare it to any other film. I couldn't help but have my curiosity piqued and I had never really seen anything with Will Smith as the lead star so I figured there wasn't any problem in seeing such a large-scale film upon the big screen.

Robert Neville (Will Smith) is in the middle of apocalypse... surrounded by nobody. After a devastating epidemic caused by an experiment that was supposed to cure cancer sweeps through the world, Robert finds himself victim to his own genes as simply one among the small percentage of population who would've been immune to the virus. Aided by his faithful dog Sam, he copes with his days by remembering the last moments he spent with his wife Zoe and daughter Marley, while also struggling with new challenges such as grabbing the attention of two survivors: Anna, a kind but brave woman, and Ethan, a little boy who refuses to say a word. However, two survivors aren't the only things he's grabbed the attention of...

My favorite thing about the whole story are the six main characters. Lead gracefully and thoughtfully by Will Smith who could've easily ruined his career had he not carried the entire film on his shoulders for an hour on his own. The slew of emotions that runs through his face between the present time and flashbacks are a constant reminder of Robert's world was and what it has become and the difference between them.

The other five characters are also a rarity on their own: two women, two children, and his dog. The fact that the Robert's character never speaks to any other men never crosses your mind until well after the film is over. When it comes down to it, his own dog ends up being female. The only other male character, Ethan, never says a word because of the devastating things each of them have experienced. Anna (played beautifully by Alice Braga) only becomes a reminder to Robert of his wife who only shares a bit eight minutes with his daughter (played greatly by Smith's own daughter, Willow Smith) in flashback sequences.

Too many people seem to overlook the fact that the story is centered around Robert at his psychological height. They seem more intent to point all the mistakes and plot holes. Personally, I'm usually the one to do so but I was so entertained by the movie as a whole that I didn't even bother. It was really more of an intelligent bit of filmmaking and writing to take the more humanitarian look to the film instead of looking on the hollywood side of it. I could've easily said that the $150,000,000 was wasted on a big-budget blockbuster. I Am Legend becomes more than that after it lingers on your mind well after you've seen it. I think this film will serve as more of what audiences looking for... to be tested and be given creativity at the same time. September 29, 2008

Inconsistent, with Gaping Plot Holes

This story had so many horrible plot holes that by the end I was glad it was over. Will Smith doesn't sacrifice himself to save the world; he just wants out of the lousy story he's become a part of.

The opening scene is a ridiculous, pathetic masturbatory commercial for the Ford Mustang GT500. I mean, really, who would hunt deer from a speeding sports car, even if you actually could? This opening had me shaking my head in disappointment, and the rest of the movie didn't take that feeling away.

The CGI was lame, shallow and low-budge throughout. Almost all of the viral-zombies (VZs) were CGI, and were not convincing.

All the VZs did was run really fast, climb like vampire-monkeys, and of course open their mouths really wide and roar a lot. Man, we've seen this dumbass mouthy-roaring gimmick a million times since it became the de rigueur monster stunt in the first Mummy movie. Now it's just trite and predictable, and no longer effective.

So, Will Smith is an Army LTC doctor, with a massive townhouse right on Washington Square in the heart of Manhattan, with a completely outfitted viral research suite in the basement? And he has all of the trappings of the pre-Armageddon life because he's resourceful n' stuff n' all? Yeah, puh-leeze.

And he powers all this stuff in his house and the lab with three or four Honda--nice product placement!--generators, which we see running happily . . . in the flipping pantry! Hollywood, there is this odorless, colorless gas, called carbon monoxide, which is emitted in the process of combustion, which . . . aw, the hell with it.

In an abandoned city, the first electrical short or lightning strike will start a fire, which with everyone including the fire department dead, will burn out of control. If there was such a struggle at the end of humanity, wouldn't there be a battle or two, maybe a little fire here and there? In a city as dense as NYC, all of Manhattan would burn for weeks. Nope, none of that, no evidence of it. Just rusty cars and some grass in the cracks of the pavement.

In a tense scene early on, we see the VZs for the first time in a very dark room strewn with bundles of money, a bank vault--on a second floor. I mean, seriously, who puts a massive bank vault on the second floor? Who reviews these settings and agrees to shoot them?

If the VZs come out at night and are so flipping voracious, why are there so many deer running all over the island? If animals can be infected, too, why are there so many deer running all over the island?

If the VZs are so screamingly (literally) violent, why haven't they all killed and eaten each other yet?

Our hero, the brilliant doctor, makes the crucial observation of the VZs that they have lost all semblance of human behavior, yet the VZ "leader" steals a mannequin from one of the hero's haunts, moves it to a crucial location, and sets a clever trap, clearly learned from watching the hero do the same thing earlier. And then the VZ leader-guy sics three apparently trained--these are supposed to be completely unhinged, ultra-violent critters, right?--viral-zombie dogs on our hero. I mean, if the VZs were this smart, why aren't they driving cars and carrying weapons themselves?

Our hero has weapons stashed everywhere, and knows how to put them into action, too. Until, that is, when it's time for things to go south and the finale to come. Then he just can't hit a thing, even on full auto. Junk.

At the end, the VZ leader-guy breaks his way slowly through the unbreakable lab glass by smashing his head and body into it repeatedly, with no signs whatsoever of any kind of physical trauma. But, uh, we've seen throughout the movie that although highly infected, and completely psycho, these VZ guys after all are physical beings which are more or less human in frame, strength and stamina, injured and killed with violence which would do the same to a human, even brought down by one or more shots from a firearm. But when the Big Dramatic Finish comes, it's time for the VZ bad-guy leader to suddenly become so much more, an über-zombie, if you will. Barf.

Manhattan is an island, right? How did the heroine-lady get onto it with her son? And how did she get off?

I will say this: Will Smith does do some pretty heavy acting in a couple of scenes, especially early on. I'll give the man that much, with no reservations. His environments may be CGI, but his acting is real, solid and powerful. That German Shepherd was doing some pretty heavy "acting," too--that was one really well-trained canine.

Bottom line: I'm amazed this didn't get to DVD faster, given the shockingly inept story. But the story Will Smith is working with is junk. Don't pay to rent this. Wait for it on video, or see it on a buddy's dime; then it will be worth your time. September 27, 2008

Not what I was expecting

Will Smith's character thinks he's the last man in NYC after a devastating virus is unleashed. His will and determination to exterminate the virus, while saving the people powers the film, even when he is the lone actor in the scenes. It was interesting to see him handle so much time by himself. I had been warned against this movie, but I'm glad I didn't listen because it was a pretty good movie.

There were ultimately some scenes that I could have lived without, some scenes that made me cry, and some scenes that I thought were very cute. It was interesting how a movie could combine so many different genres into one, and still maintain a simple plot line.

I don't think it is an absolute must-see movie, but it is a movie that you should try to see if you get the opportunity. You don't have to be a big sci-fi fan to get into it. You just need to keep somewhat of an open-mind. September 26, 2008

Hard movie to get through

The special effects in this movie is top notch. The acting is pretty good as well and the story telling is pretty darn good as well. Why didn't I like this movie then? It just wasn't very fun. There wasn't a lot of human interaction.... it was basically a Will Smith monologue and while he did a good job listening to Will Smith talk to himself for over an hour gets old real quick. The zoombies or living dead special effects wise were top knotch but they were a little creapy (which is probably what they were going for).

Strangly enough everything in this movie was done well except the fun factor. This is kind of a depressing movie and nothing really good happens until the end (kind of like Will Smith's the Pursuit of Happiness) and by the time that happens it just isn't enough. September 22, 2008

Not much happens

This was an okay movie that I saw twice and do not like. I especially liked Will Smith's acting and the dog, but to see the infected is ridiculous. Nothing much seems to happen except a while after Robert Neville does what he normally does, he is not careful and is lured into a trap set up by the Infected, then is helped by another character, and then dies after the Infected finds out where he lives. September 18, 2008

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