DVD : I Am Legend [2007]

Rating: - Brilliant first half, disappointing second half...
I was strangely affected by this film and it stayed rattling around in my head for a while afterwards. The plot, a remake of the omega man, sees scientists creating a cure for cancer via a modified version of the measles virus (one of the most contagious viruses there is, apparently.) Cut to 3 years later and things have all gone horribly wrong, the virus has mutated and killed 90% of the population, leaving 1% immune and the remaining 9% have turned into aggressive, bald, albino zombies who survive on increased levels of adrenaline and can only come out at night due to their newly increased sensitivity to the sun. They feast on human or animal flesh, basically anything they can get their little mutant zombie hands on.

Will Smith plays army man and scientist, Robert Neville, one of the "lucky?" few who is immune to the virus and he spends his days alone in New York with only his alsation dog, Sam, for company. Days are spent searching for food, roaming the streets trying to send radio signals to locate any other possible survivors and in the lab trying to find a cure for the virus. Nights are spent barricaded at home in the darkness whilst the zombies are rampaging the streets. I actually thought the first half of this film was excellent and Will played the part of a devestated, bereaved and desperately lonely man who is slowly going mad through lack of human contact, extremely well. The scene where he barricades himself and his dog in at night, them both huddled together in the darkness whilst outside we hear the horrific screaming and sounds of bloody carnage as the mutants are running loose outside was really heartbreaking and affected me deeply. The scene where Sam dies- Neville's only friend left in the world, had me in floods of tears and was truly gut wrenching.

In fact, whilst the zombies are unseen the film is actually rather frightening. Unfortunately the director chooses to reveal the mutants to us and in my opinion they looked pathetic and the film went immediately downhill as soon as we see them. In fact, if they had remained unseen, the film would have been really terrifying and eerie, since what we imagine to be horrific is always going to be worse than what is presented to us. Unfortunatelty, the director chose another route and created the zombies with CGI and it obviously looked like it as they were almost cartoon-like and comical in their grotesqueness, I just couldn't take the film seriosuly after this and in my humble opinion the film then rapidly descended into smaltzy cliche after cliche. Will does a valiant job of portraying a broken man, desolate with loneliness in a post apocalyptic world but the beginning of the film when its just Neville and his dog, Sam, is definately the better half of the film. The introduction of two more survivors later in the film, a woman and her son felt pointless to me and left me feeling surprisingly unemotional, considering the way the first half affected me. The ending was pure USA (they don't do sad or untied endings), deviated from the ending in the book that the film is based on, and left me feeling wholly unsatisfied and disappointed. All in all its worth a look just for the beginning but don't expect much after the first half.

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Rating: - Where are the decent directors?
I shall remember 2007 as the yar of eye candy without substance. This film among others like 30 Days of Night was one that looked pretty good and then flat on its face. This is the third version of this film that has been made and it's the worst. Im sorry but the 1950's version of this film with Vincent Price (Last Man on Earth) is leaps and bounds better. The 70's version with Charlton Heston was also good (Omega Man). It's a telling point that many people do not even realise that this film was not a zombie film but a vampire one. CGI does not a good film make and try as Will Smith does (and he does his absolute best) he can't help the film overcome its fatal flaws. Yes, Will is good, shame about the rest of it. Where are the directors who could bring the angst and depth to the screen?
This is NOT a 5 star film and you realise that from the word go up to the last whimper at the end.

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Rating: - i hated every minute of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if i could i would give this film -10 stars it was awful!!!
its basically a 1 man film and although i really enjoy will smiths film and i think he is a really good actor this film was absolute torture!!!
the most exciting thing in the film was when a woman and a young boy came in near the end!!!
i would not recommned this film to anyone unless you have absolutely nothing better to do!!!!

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Rating: - One man and his dog
Pro's
The opening half of the movie...in which New York is vividly recast as post-apocalyptic dystopia.
Smith's portrayal of a man slowly going insane. Considering this is a big-budget Hollywood movie, this is subtle and quietly moving. Flashbacks to pre-apocalypse confusion are interspersed with care and inform Smith's character and the plot.
The idea that it is Smith who is now the monster. After all, from the perspective of the other residents of the new New York it is Smith who is the outsider. He lurks in his basement like a Frankenstein conducting lethal experiments on innocent subjects he captures.
The sense of dread. This is built slowly and cumulatively. The scene where the dog runs into a dark, seemingly empty building is exquisitely tense.
Sam the Dog. Seems strange to praise a dog for its acting, but for most of the film it's just Smith and Sam and they make a fine double act.

Con's
The second half of the movie. Once the monsters are revealed in all their CGI glory the movie turns into a loud, shouty action flick. The psychological and moral arguments are shunted out of the way and we are left with a series of ever-louder explosions.

I'd consider this an interesting but flawed movie. The first half is great - filled with loads of striking imagery and interesting thoughts about isolation, survival, personal morality, the boundaries of sanity and human arrogance. The second half is more interested in bombs, guns, and monsters. Worth watching for the performances of Smith and Sam.

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Rating: - Good idea, good actor, plus poor script make a poor film
"I am legend" (and I'm not sure why it is written like this) is one of those science-fiction stories that involves "virus escapes, kills almost everyone except last survivor; virus creates vampire-like, half-man creatures; last man discovers vaccine; last man discovers he is not the last man; last man hands over vaccine, saves world, and dies".
I had no preconceptions about this film, and I must admit (despite liking sci-fi films) I found this film a bit bizarre. The film is all about Robert Neville's (Will Smith) life as the sole survivor living in a devastated New York. We see him hunting during the day, and waiting for an eventual contact everyday at mid-day. We see him eating from tins, and hiding at night in his fortress made out of a nice townhouse. We see him trying to discover the vaccine (the virus appears to have originated as a cancer cure) that makes people (and animals) hyper-violent (in fact it kills 99% of all people, a few become raving savages, and an even small number appear immune). And above all we see him more or less happy with his only friend, his dog Sam.
We begin to piece together the bits of the story with flashbacks to when the virus escapes, to the death of his wife and child, and to his final isolation in New York.
We also see hyper-violent half-human, half-animals, who are only able to come out and hunt at night (thus the name "night-seekers"). We learn that they ate all the dead bodies (useful justification for not seeing any bodies) and spend their time hunting for the few humans remaining alive. Robert (Will) traps a female "monster" for his experiments. But she is the mate of one of the leaders and he is seriously not-happy.
This initial part of the film is quite impressive. The views of an empty New York with nature re-claiming its own were very convincing. Will Smith does a great job, and I loved the scene with him practicing golf on an aircraft carrier. And as long as the monsters remained hidden the film managed to create a good impression of tension and malaise.
Late we see Will caught in the same type of trap he used to capture the female monster. So the monsters are not just mindless, they have leaders, companions, and learn complex skills by copying humans. But the actual monsters are nothing more than computer-enhanced cartoons (except the leader monster that made quite an impression on my wife).
Unfortunately from here on the film goes downhill. Will escapes from the trap set for him by the head-monster. He meets, out of nowhere, a woman and a child travelling to a survivor's paradise (yes, I forgot to mention this last point in my list of classical features of deadly virus films). They return to his hideout but they are followed by the night-seekers, and at the same time Will's vaccine begins to work on the captured female monster. Robert (Will) dies to save the woman, child and vaccine. Woman and child drive to survivor's paradise (in a perfectly clean and new 4x4). Film ends.
So this is a film with a bizarre and quite compelling start, but a silly ending. The monster "night-seekers" were not that convincing, but they still managed to impress my wife. Will Smith did a good job, but I feel that a non-star actor would have been a better choice. We could have associated more with the character and possibly accepted the films poor ending, but we just kept on see Will Smith playing this, or running there, or fighting off that monster.
Good idea with a good actor, coupled with a poor script makes for a poor film. Shame.