MOVIE REVIEW: I Am Legend
December 23rd, 2007 at 23:59 by David Schwartz
Imagine a world populated only by Will Smith, his dog and a host of blood-sucking Gillian McKeith lookalikes. Oh and it's all Emma Thompson's fault!
That is the nightmarish vision set out in I Am Legend, directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine). Part sci-fi horror, part art-house stroll, the film is based on Richard Matheson's post-apocalyptic 1954 book about the last man alive on earth.
Thompson's character, Dr Crippin (why not call her Dr Death for God's sake?), has created a cure for cancer. Unfortunately for mankind, the 'cure' has a rather disastrous side-effect – namely, it turns 98 per cent of the world's population into corpses or super-agile, bloodthirsty vampires (who'd have thought it).
The remaining two per cent who are immune to the contagious disease – including Smith's character Robert Neville – naturally become food for the swarm of night-stalking bloodsuckers. Only government scientist Neville appears to have the ability to stay alive. But it's lonely at the top, as Neville discovers as he looks for a cure to 'the cure' amid the backdrop of a deserted New York.
Hunting for CGI deer in the middle of Times Square (no really) during the day and hiding in his house at night for three years certainly takes its toll on Neville, who with only his dog and a clutch of Bob Marley CDs for company unsurprisingly descends into madness.
He chats up mannequins; he learns all the words to Shrek; but, most surprisingly for the ever-chirpy Smith, he manages only one wisecrack throughout the entire film.
Another surprise is that despite its obvious similarities with 28 Days Later, I Am Legend is a far slower-paced and darker film. Rather more predictably, however, the over-use of CGI means Lawrence's post-apocalyptic New York is far more cartoonish than Danny Boyle's London. Indeed, the special effects overall range from the not-very-good to the plain pathetic. The only good bits involving the 'dark seekers' (Lawrence is at pains to suggest they are not vampires, despite the fact they suck blood and hate sunlight) is the parts where you don't see them. Not exactly a stunning endorsement.
However, Smith, despite clearly struggling to look miserable, gives a decent performance as the guilt-ridden scientist struggling to come up with a cure.
Unfortunately, like the film, he is all alone.
I am Legend is released on Boxing Day.
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December 24th, 2007 at 7:20 am
Excellent film. People whine too much about cgi- this film was like 13 years in the making? So yeah. We should all feel better about the cgi now.
The film is an adaption of the original story. The Bob Marley introduction bestowed upon the woman who finds Will at the docks sets the tone for this new movie. It’s been done three times already but this time it’s about racism. I only watched it once and having thought for a couple of nights about it I was able to make sense of what I’d seen.
Watch it again. This film is replete with sociological innuendo. Says Black male in a music shop full of white mannequins: “Please say hello to me.”, the use of Frank as bait by the infected and (subsequently) skin-headed, palid, DEVOLVED night freaks. Etc. I even found the spiritual mechanics interesting. (Had Will’s character ignored his desire for social interaction and proceeded dilligently to the docks without stopping to lose his cool over Frank, he’d have met the girl on his own terms, the freaks would never have found his lab, and the cure would never have made it to the colony. [Why not?])
It was as cerebral as I was able to make it. I guess that’s always the case, though, isn’t it? I saw a lot in this fillm and I think the director architected it because the threads I was able to perceive were consistent throughout the film. Had they been sporadic I’d have dismissed it.
December 25th, 2007 at 6:07 am
this film is just ok, not as good as i think. It seems that the story is not end, and its really difficult to us to understand whats the main point that the dirctor wanna to express. I really wanna to know the backgroud of the story. I am full of doudt after watch the movie, hows the virus start to spread, why there is no trails that pepole try to defence, why streets are clean and tidy, where are the armies, why Ana and the child can show up during the night without any attack.
December 25th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
This film was good. It did have a bit to do with racism and spirituality but it wasn’t cheeseball the way most films like that are. One thing I will say, though. This movie was DARK. I don’t think I could sit through it a second time. I’m glad they didn’t give Will Smith a bunch of the same old stupid joke cracking to do in this film. That was really getting old.
December 28th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
BEST REMAKE (only) OF OMEGA MAN IN YEARS…
GLAD THEY ADDED THE DOG, SHE COULD GET BEST ACTOR
WILL SMITH AND THE ENTIRE CREW WHO IS QUOTED AS STUFF LIKE “WE HAD TO IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE…..”
BULL$!!!!
ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS WATCH OMEGA MAN (1971) AND REDO IT POORLY!!!
March 21st, 2008 at 1:04 pm
This movie is the cinematic equivalent of a giant steaming pile of dog sh!t.
Half the movie is poorly-drawn compuiter graphics. Character development is nil. The plot holes are huge. Basically, one must suspend all reasoning when watching this movie.