Review: I Am Legend

[JasonEvans]

This is a good flick, well made and well acted, and I liked it... but I am not sure I enjoyed it very much and I really wonder who the audience is for it.

I think it falls somewhere in between action/adventure and horror, perhaps tilting towards horror. I suppose you call it a thriller, but it really felt more like a horror flick at times. I don't think Will Smith's traditional audience is going to like this movie. The theater was packed for the screening and there were a lot of folks who I heard mumbling a bit about how scary it was when the movie ended. It is not gory, not at all, but there are monsters out there and there is no denying that most women and children are not going to like this movie. No way I could see a kid under 14 or 15 seeing it, and I am quite aggressive about taking kids to movies at a young age.



For those of you who are fans of The Omega Man or the I Am Legend book, I think this was only loosely based on those stories. While the general plot is the same (killer virus has wiped out most of the population leaving some kind of vampire/monster behind and there is one scientist trying to fix things while also fighting off the monsters), the final third of the movie is totally different from what happens in those stories. I like that it keeps you guessing as a result and I am not going to give away how the movie ends except that it is fairly satisfying and I did not see it coming quite like that. It is also not an easy ending. This is not a "...and they all lived happily ever after" kinda film.

One of the film's strongest points is also one of its problems. Thre is no one for Will Smith to interract with, no one ot talk to. He spends much of the film talking to his dog, Sam, who is a great character in the movie and the audience adores him as much as Smith's Robert Neville character does. But, with no one to talk to, the movie feels awkwards and almost clausterphobic at times. Let me explain-- Robert Neville can go whever he wants, do whatever he wants, get whatever he wants, but he has no one to share any of it with. This makes it feel like his world is small, not big. It is hard to explain, but when no one else is there, the canyons of New York City's skyscrapers begin to close in around you, know what I mean? It is an interesting phenomenon and the movie does a great job of conveying his loneliness... but it does not make for a very enjoyable movie experience.

The film does do a fabulous job on the tension and fear. When Neville goes into the darkness of a building it is gripping and terrifying. Will Smith is acting his butt off here and does a great job. His fear of the monsters is not for his own life but for the fact that if he dies, hope for a cure dies with him. The direction is first-rate, though the monsters appear a bit too CGI/sci-fi/horror. I would rather they have been men in makeup as it would have seemed more real and the reality of what is going on is the real hook for the film.



One final points and then I am done--

There is a key scene in the trailer for this film, one of the last images in the trailer, that was not in the movie. I don't want to say too much but when I saw the scene in the trailer it told me that a key plot point in the I Am Legend book and Omega Man movie would be a part of this film. I was wrong. The plot devise that I thought would happen, the direction I thought the movie would take, did not happen. I think they maybe started going in this direction and then changed things. I am not sure why as I think it is one of the strongest aspects of the I Am Legend story but they went a different direction. The movie is only about 95 minutes long and I think they may have taken this plot point out which is why the film is shorter than most of what Hollywood produces these days. I am not sure why I am pointing all this out but I figure that once more of you have seen the film we can have a spoiler discussion of it.

In the end most of you simply want to know, "should I spend $10 on this film?"-- well, as I indicated this movie is not for everyone. It is a good movie and well-made (the empty scenes of NYC are quite impressive and expansive) but the movie not terribly enjoyable. If you don't mind a good scare and a ton of tension in your films, check it out. I would rate it above-average in the almost-horror/thriller genre.

--Jason "interested in hearing other opinions and discussing the way the story went in the final 1/3 of the movie" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Wondering something-- are many folks planning on seeing this film? I want to guage who the audience will be.

-JE

[aimo]

I love scary movies, especially psychological give-me-nightmares thrillers. And I am female, which caused me to pause at your "not for women and children" statement before. I actually loved watching them when I was little, too. My parents didn't hold me back from them, and yes, they gave me nightmares. I like to think it made me stronger. Just kidding, they didn't scar me too much!

[billybreen]

One of the film's strongest points is also one of its problems. Thre is no one for Will Smith to interract with, no one ot talk to. He spends much of the film talking to his dog, Sam, who is a great character in the movie and the audience adores him as much as Smith's Robert Neville character does.

Does Sam make it? Feel free to respond by PM if you don't want to drop a spoiler.

[jma4life]

I definitely plan on seeing this film. Thanks for the review.

[Clipsfan]

Wondering something-- are many folks planning on seeing this film? I want to guage who the audience will be.

-JE

Yes, and will probably be plunking down $12/ticket for it by Xmas at the lastest.

[MrBisonDevil]

I'm going to check it out on IMAX this weekend.

[YmoBeThere]

Agreed, IMAX, but not sure when I will go see it.

[mkirsh]

Jason - thanks for the review. I admit that I've been hooked by the trailers and do plan on seeing this, but my worry was whether this was going to be any different than 28 Days Later or just a re-hash. Without giving away the plot, can you allay my concern?

[JasonEvans]

Jason - thanks for the review. I admit that I've been hooked by the trailers and do plan on seeing this, but my worry was whether this was going to be any different than 28 Days Later or just a re-hash. Without giving away the plot, can you allay my concern?

It is not like a monster/zombie movie. It is largely about one man struggling to maintain his sanity while being all alone. It is not a monster movie. The monsters play a smaller role than you might imagine for the majority of the movie, though the specter of them is ominous and scary.

-Jason

[cato]

Wondering something-- are many folks planning on seeing this film? I want to guage who the audience will be.

-JE

Absolutely. My wife is also really interested in seeing it.

[Stray Gator]

... It is largely about one man struggling to maintain his sanity while being all alone. ... The monsters play a smaller role than you might imagine for the majority of the movie, though the specter of them is ominous and scary.

-Jason

Sounds like "Castaway--The Urban Island Version"...with a script by Stephen King.

[rockymtn devil]

Thanks for the review.

I definitely plan on seeing this movie. The book is one of my favs, and I felt like The Omega Man went too far away from the vampire aspects of it (not to mention how cheezy it was). Sad to hear that this movie also twists somewhat away from the book, but I'll see it nonetheless.

[feldspar]

Great review Jason. I was hoping you'd comment on it, because I was on the fence on this one. Seeing as though it's more of a horror flick than anything, I think I'll pass.

[willywoody]

Jason - thanks for the review. I admit that I've been hooked by the trailers and do plan on seeing this, but my worry was whether this was going to be any different than 28 Days Later or just a re-hash. Without giving away the plot, can you allay my concern?

it could only hope to be as good as 28 days later. i'm betting its not.

[Olympic Fan]

I've seen most of the films in this genre (Omega Man, 28 Days, etc. ...) but far and away my favoite is "Night of the Comet" -- a tongue in cheek spoof of the story about a Valley Girl (and her younger sister) and her battle against the zombie survivors in LA.

I think I'll wait for "I Am Legend" to show up on cable.

[j.j. jones]

Sounds like "Castaway--The Urban Island Version"...with a script by Stephen King.

I was finnin da same thing, yo. If Hanks can grab the audience's interest by interracting with a soccer ball (where's Wilson when you need him?), then I think I can handle Smitty conversing with a pooch.

Bow wow wow, yippie yo yippie... BOO YEAH!!!

[Jfrosh]

Wondering something-- are many folks planning on seeing this film? I want to guage who the audience will be.

-JE

I am a fan of The Omega Man so I was looking forward to this movie. My son who is 12 was really wanting to see it. From your review, Jason, I am not sure I should take him.

[tombrady]

Wondering something-- are many folks planning on seeing this film? I want to guage who the audience will be.

-JE

heard a stellar review of this on NPR -- Jason, did you pick up on any of these themes?

get this:

"And maybe it's just that unlike most of you, I've seen a whole fall's worth of War-on-Terrorism, Rendition-for-Lambs -In-the-Valley-of-Elah movies, but what I started thinking about was that I Am Legend fits right in with those pictures.

I mean, it's still a sci-fi blockbuster, but take a look at that plot: Western medicine takes a virus (a bad thing) and manipulates it so that it can fight cancer (a worse thing). Sort of like Western military forces arming jihadists (which they regard as a bad thing) so that they'll fight communists (which they regard as a worse thing).

And then the built-up virus — the bad thing — mutates into something much worse than the cancer, and it turns on its creators. And this starts where? That's right: In New York, which everyone in the movie keeps calling Ground Zero. And some poor schmoe who didn't start the problem has to try to fix it.

But even if he comes up with a cure, a way to make the nasty infected guys human again, they're just going to keep coming, banging their heads against plate glass, destroying the civilized world and — here's the kicker — either killing everyone they come into contact with or converting them into monsters just like themselves. And the only solution is to shoot them dead — or withdraw behind metal walls, into a fortress-like homeland. And that's not working.

That's I Am Legend in a nutshell. A blockbuster for our time, no?"

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=17260869

[Son of Jarhead]

Wondering something-- are many folks planning on seeing this film? I want to guage who the audience will be.

-JE

Saw it a few hours ago. My thoughts pretty much mirror Jason's. I liked it, but it was disturbing at times. It was one of those movies that make you think... discussed it all the way home in the car afterwords. Jason, I noticed something missing that was in the trailor, too... wondering if it was what you saw... I'll wait 'til the future discussion to find out. (I have not read the book... yet... I'll be grabbing a copy tomorrow.)