DVD : I Am Legend [2007]

Rating: - forgettable legend
I was really looking forward to seeing this film after being shown the excerpts on tv.But what a huge disappointment.It started off so well and by the end of the film completely disintegrated into nothing,no story,no acting ,no ending.Unfortunately not just my opinion , my friends and family watching the film with me agreed!

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Rating: - Lacks bite
This film had a lot of promise, and delivered... up to a point.

Will Smith is a scientist trying to cure a disease that has turned most of the worlds population into vamp-like creatures.

Based in Manhattan, the scenes of deserted streets and huge over grown foliage are great, and give a real sense of our world passing into the hands of nature.

Other scenes, such as the video store, give excellent insight into a very damaged character.

So why only three stars?

It's the last act that really lets this down. Far too Hollywood, far too cutesy, and frankly had me ranting at the screen.

This is a dark sinister creeping film that should have been an excellent exploration of one man's character when faced with the loss of all he knows and the gnawing voice that tells him he's never going to get it back. So why spoil it with a happy (and unbelievable) ending?

Great shame.

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Rating: - Do not waste your time.
This film left me angry...angry because it cost me both time and money but in return provided nothing but immense disappointment.

I was left with hundreds of "why would he have done that?" "Well, that doesn't make sense" "That wouldn't have happened!" "Why didn't he just...?"

It was a very flawed film that left huge gaps in the explaination.

!Potential Spoiler Warning!

Flaws -
Significant changes in behaviour and implied evolution of 'wildlife' (such as the deer and lions), despite the fact the disease outbreak has only been 3 to 4 years.
The 'domestication' of the diseased canines. If Sam lost her recognition of her beloved 'Master' when she became infected, why on earth would the infected dogs still be at the command of the diseased humans?
Why didn't the helipcopter pilot transporting Neville's family (in the flashback) make any attempt to avoid the out of control one?
Why was his wife given a second screening? If she had a faulty reading, surely everyone else would have to be re-screened. It is mentioned that Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a military scientist...so how would he have the power to command Soldiers who had been given commands from higher up than himself?
How did the woman and child survive? They are both clean, well-fed and well-groomed...yet apparently didn't have anything like the supplies Neville had collected.
How did the woman and child get off the Island? (after all exit routes had been destroyed in a last minute attempt to contain the virus) If the exits hadn't all been destroyed, why hadn't the woman and child already gone?
How did the colony of uninfected humans survive? If the diseased humans can scale the wall of a building in mere seconds, surely the colony's 'fortress' was just as vulnerable!

...Why did Robert Neville allow himself to die? There was enough room for him to shelter with the woman and child, why not just throw the grenade and hide.
This action apparently made him a legend.

No. Dying without a purpose does not make someone a Legend. What if the vaccine had been incomplete and still failed? the 'test subject' had only partially recovered. Surely he should have tried to escape to ensure his work was a success?

There a hundreds more irritating flaws that would make this an extremely long review.


Conclusion - Watch it if you don't have to pay for it and want to waste some time for no gain, if you enjoy poorly thought out films or if you just don't notice whole gaps in logic.

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Rating: - good adaptation
I have read the book before and, exceptionally for an adaptation, I really liked the movie too and I was not at all let down. Matheson's book is quite old, but not dated as you read it today. There are story differences in the movie, but nothing that destroyed the spirit of the thing. And Will Smith is great as the main character. As a stand alone movie, it is good, and since it is also one of these VERY rare cases where you are not cringing while watching if you have read the book, I would totally recommended it.

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Rating: - It,s the end of the world as we know it and Will Smith is,nt feeling fine
We have a cure for cancer announces Emma Thompson in a rather odd little cameo as a doctor as the start of I Am Legend . It seems they have manipulated the measles virus with a 100% success rate .Wow we think except the movie cuts to three years down the line to 2012 And Dr Robert Neville(Will Smith) Is wandering around a deserted and frankly shabby looking New York( expertly rendered by Lord Of The Rings lens man Andrew Lesnie) hunting deer along with his faithful Alsatian pooch Sam. Putting out a message over AM for other survivors to contact him it would seem he is all alone in the city.
Excerpt he isn't for we soon discover he is a brilliant scientist attempting to find a cure for a virulent disease that has wiped out nearly every human being on the planet. Apart that is for the ones who have been turned into sunlight phobic ravenous flesh eating zombie /vampire thingies . Night time is therefore is not a time to be hanging around the streets ( rather like some areas of the U.K.) so Dr Neville retreats to his former home which conveniently has a laboratory in the cellar as well as electricity , bolts down the windows and doors and carries out his experiments on animals and specimens of the infected he has ingeniously captured . I can fix this he mantra's as we observe flashbacks to the initial outbreak of the disease and his attempts to get his family to safety.
Dr Neville is slowly going ga ga we observe as he interacts with shop window dummies he has placed around the city to maintain some semblance of normality .This section of the film is actually the most effective. Will Smith really gets to show off his quality as an actor and the relationship between him and the dog is revealed to have real depth. The film struggles when Neville has to confront the creatures. Apart from one very tense scene in a dark tenement building the action just doesn't convince. The decision by director Francis Lawrence to utilise CGI for the night dwelling beasties is a disaster. They just aren't convincing .They would be a poor effort for a video game let alone a major blockbusting movie. The film also loses focus for the last third with feel good guff about colonies of survivors and Bob Marley CD,s , though Smith tries manfully to make it believable , it just doesn't sit right.
I love end of the world apocalyptic fiction and movies , but this adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel by Mark Protosevich ("Poseidon [2006]") and Akiva Goldsman ("Batman And Robin [1997]" "Practical Magic [1999]," I Robot - Single Disc Edition [2004]," ) just does,nt work . They haven't remained faithful enough to the original novel for me .I prefer the previous adaptation "The The Omega Man [1972]" which is also flawed but far more powerful.
Having stated that there is enough here to make I Am Legend worth watching at least once. Visually it's stunning -the pathetic CGI monster people apart - and Will Smith gives an admirable performance ...as does the dog. The end of the world just seems to bring the best out of some people ....and canines.