Film review: I Am Legend

It's been a while since I last wrote a film review. About time, then.


In brief, though.

Will Smith is Robert Neville, protagonist of Richard Matheson's classic novel I Am Legend. Robert Neville is alone, after a miracle cure for cancer turns out to be a killer virus. During the day Neville either roams through an empty New York, looking for food and survivors, or is down in his basement trying to find a cure; at night he hides in his bathtub with Sam, his loyal dog, and waits until dawn scares the monsters away.

First off, the production values: truly, truly glorious. The deserted, overgrown New York looks absolutely stunning (albeit impossible) - it is an absolute pleasure to watch Neville either walking or racing through a deathly silent Big Apple. Similar shots in Vanilla Sky (New York also) and 28 Days Later (London) pale in comparison. I simply cannot fathom how much effort, both digital and logistical, this must have taken, but take it they did. This is, by far, the main attraction of the film.

Will Smith does his usual schtick, wise-cracking (to no one), flexing muscles, squeezing out the occasional tear, which is adequate, if old. He's a good enough actor, but I'd have loved to have seen an unknown in this.

The structure of the film is clear cut - the onset of the apocalypse, as seen from Neville's point of view, is explained through messy but interesting flashbacks. The rest of the film is entirely linear. For the observant there are a few interesting sight gags, such as a Batman vs. Superman filmposter hanging in a Serengeti-like Times Square, or several van Gogh's hanging in Neville's house.

So far, all is well. The first two thirds of the film are quite good - a slow build-up, with a few good scares, astounding visuals, even a chuckle or two. But then something (I'll remain ambiguous) is introduced into the storyline, something that I can't recall having read in the book, and it goes downhill pretty fast. Sadly, from then on the action limits itself to Neville's house, and before you know it, the film ends, just like that, and you find yourself watching the end credits and thinking to yourself, "Hang on...". The phenomenal ending that made the book such a classic has been altered substantially, with a definite Hollywood twist that simply does not ring true, even if you haven't read the source material.

And then there's the "what-if's" - there are several elements in the film well worth exploring, such as the Darkseekers (?!) exhibiting basic human emotions such as love and grief, or what on Earth Neville did to make him, and I quote, "the Robert Neville". All of this is hinted at rather blatantly, and subsequently left dangling in the dark, which is a real shame, because there is definite potential there.

All in all, I Am Legend is a decent night out - the looks of the film are worth the entry fee on their own, and there's even an interesting story somewhere in there about loneliness, despair and loss, but in the end this is still a Hollywood blockbuster attempting to please everyone at once, and subsequently pleasing no one at all.

Entertaining though lacklustre.

A 77 out of 100.

Ok, so not so brief, then.