DVD : I Am Legend (2 Disc Special Edition) [2007]

Rating: - Playing and preaching Bob Marley doth not a serious movie make.
The equation of a director of Britney Spears/Jennifer Lopez music videos + the saviour of the world from Independence Day was always going to give flickering noisy horde-fighting explosive tripe.

There's 10 better zombie movies on the shelves (just fast forward to get the same effect) and there's dozens of 'cool guy saves the world' movies but in them the central actor doesn't get out-performed by a dog. Will Smith does not even come close to being able to carry a movie on his own the way Tom Hanks did in Cast Away. When he starts trying to get a manequin to talk to him it's one of the most winceable scenes imaginable and you don't know whether a laugh track is going to kick in or whether an alien/robot/zombie is going to smash through the window to save him from the folly of his ridiculous acting.

The plot, acting, and monsters end up being a seriously annoying distraction to the very well done backdrop of ghost town New York...as soon as the monsters get introduced the rest is pretty much predictable popcorn selling drivel.

Avoid like the plague.

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Rating: - The Loneliest Man In The World
In a horrific twist of fate, family man Robert Neville (the wonderful Will Smith) is suddenly the loneliest man in the world, and perhaps the only man in the world.
Robert Neville is a military virologist, intent of finding a cure for the virus that has mutated, and turned New York City into a barely recognisable urban desert. With only his trusted German Shepard dog for company, he sets about patrolling the streets by day, searching for survivors and setting up a rendezvous point for any that may catch his radio message that he broadcasts daily. At night he locks himself away in his home, if only for his survival, and to continue his research to the strains of Bob Marley, and the Legend that he himself was. In between he has to deal with the citizens that have physically mutated into creatures that cannot bare sunlight, like the vampire, that are hellbent on bringing the last man standing to his knees.

What we have is a wonderfully lonely film, if there ever can be one. The destruction of New York City, seen briefly and only in flashback, is nothing short of terrifying, and the depiction of the city during the process of decay is masterfully filmed, with horrifying realism. The always interesting Will Smith is truly wonderful in a non-comedy performance, and we watch as he slowly begins to lose his grip on the battle for survival. We then begin to feel his wanting as he longs to join his wife and child, to the place where they have gone to. Even the German Shepard deserves a mention. Yes, the dog (actually they used two) was beautifully trained, and wonderful to watch. Simple as that.

I Am Legend is superb film. Stunning cinematography, reasonable CGI, and the hauning and imaginitive use of sound, together, fashion a film that could well be a glimps of the future, and of things to come, only this time not from man's determination to destroy himself through political differences ending with the use of force via weapons of mass destruction, but from mother nature's way of culling the human population. Long after the film has finished, it will leave you thinking how truly helpless and desperate we would and will become, should the unthinkable happen. Amongst the fear and the loneliness, there is a contender, quite simply, for one of the great films of the 21st Century.

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Rating: - Poor Remake
Anyone who can remember Charlton Heston in the 'Omega Man' will know that that film was far superior - with more edge of the seat tension and suspense then this lacklustre piece of celluloid which relies mostly on special effects.

Not only that that, 'Omega Man' comes far closer to the book's rather more diverse issues of ethics and morals than 'I am Legend' can muster. 'I am Legend' just uses a few stereotypes in a very simplistic way that may subconsciously address those dulled by lack scrutiny: US national pride as a monoppoly, the madness of science gone awry, atonement (makes the best heroes), all neatly wrapped up as a battle between good and evil.

Overlooked is often that the good intentions of the good create the evil - or should it be called the other aspect of good? - they then have to so valiantly fight. The road to hell is always paved with good intentions. But who is the victim of who in that situation?

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Rating: - Worst Will Smith movie ever
I can honestly say that this is the worst movie I have ever seen in the last 10 years. At the begining the story seems interesting but then it turns into a stupid zombie ridiculous film and the end does not make any sense. Do not even boher to buy. Rent it if you feel curious...

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Rating: - Hollywood disappoints yet again!
It beats me why people get their hopes up anymore when Hollywood gets its hands on a good book to turn into a movie. This movie was never going to be as good as the original story. I think thats why they gave it to Francis Lawrence to direct as a stronger, more established director would have had greater clout to maintain the most important elements from the book.
Whats good? Well, Will Smith cuts the wisecracking for once and actually ACTS a bit, (thats right you didn't misread that)!! Deserted New York looks amazing, the flashback story works well, the scenes with the dog are emotional and convincing and the tension of the dark scenes is white-knuckle indeed!
Whats bad? The CGI effects are SO bad! With several million to chuck at movies these days how come the CGI effects can be so bad?? The monsters look silly and cartoonish and real actors in make-up would have been better (zombie movies have been doing it for years!). The secondary characters that turn up are unconvincing and too convienient, (In the book, Neville comes across a young woman who earns his trust, only for her to turn on him in a major twist - no such ambiguity in THIS movie!). The ending is not rubbish by any stretch but just SO different from the book's which subtly draws us in to then reveal Neville for what he has truly become on the last page - sigh.
Well, in short, its okay saturday night fare but it could have been so much better, it could have been a classic...