 |
I was really looking forward to seeing "I Am Legend", from the moment I found out earlier this year. In preparation to seeing the movie, I watched Vincent Price in "The Last Man on Earth" and Charlton Heston in "The Omega Man". Even though the main ideas of the two prior versions were the same (last man, virus, night creatures, etc.), the delivery varied for their particular time. So I was intrigued to see how the storyline would be adapted to our time. The first thing that struck me was the set. Growing up in New York City, it really hit me hard to see the devastation and isolation of the city that "Never Sleeps". The streets, the abandoned cars, the bridges, the U.N.,etc. It really hit home. Then we see a much slender, leaner Will Smith trying to cope with the fact that he was alone. His portrayal of Robert Neville is great. Very moving. I find the origin of the virus quite interesting as it comes as a side effect for a cure for cancer. The prior two movies used a plague (The Last Man on Earth) and germ warfare (The Omega Man) to explain the virus. The use of a cure that transforms into a virus gives it an ironic twist. The film opens well, and continues that way until the introduction of the other two human characters, but that's about an hour or more of Smith, alone in Manhattan after a genetically-altered version of the measles has either killed or mutated the rest of humanity into super-violent creatures who prey on those unaffected, but only at night. They're killed almost instantly when exposed to sunlight. Smith, playing Robert Neville, was an Army Lieutenant before the virus was unleashed three years prior, and he spends his lonely days walking and stalking on the grown-in streets of Manhattan with his dog, Sam. At night, he locks himself in his apartment and attempts to find a cure. It's interesting seeing Smith carry the movie with only himself, Sam, some various wild animal species, and some mannequins. He does an excellent job, and I'm sure that's not an easy task for an actor. This is easily the most likable character he's ever played, and he brings a lot of great stuff to it, including humor and a scene that had me on the verge of tears. Will Smith and the strength of the story outweigh the two mot glaringly bad things about this film. However, the creature effects are WAY too over-reliant on CGI, but then again, so are most horror films these days, so you might be used to it. Animatronics and foam rubber latex effects pioneered well over thirty years ago look a lot more believable than this cartoonish junk. And the other thing is the ending. It's not terrible, and it won't make you dislike the rest of the film, but the original story's ending is very sad and ironic, and this, like the other two adaptations, just can't seem to cope with the magnitude of the situation, so they always leave you with something WAY to hopeful for what we've seen throughout the rest of the film, and also, it seems that they're afraid to teach you the incredible lesson the original Matheson story had to offer. This is a good adaptation of Richard Matheson's 'I Am Legend.' So far, none of the three have nailed it, due to the inability to just use the story's ending, but this one comes close and is certainly one of the best of the three (the other two are good flicks so I recommend them all).Read full review
This movie was a great holiday hit for a reason. Sony's special effects house did an excellent job with New York City. The only time the CGI didn't work was in the very beginning when the sports car was racing through the city. I felt as though I was playing GranTourismo. The premise of the movie was effective and imaginative. The story-line was suspenseful and it built the idea of human survival even in the roughest of times. Perserverence will triumph every time. Where this movie went awry was when the zombies went from crazed zombies who lack brains (which would be why they love to eat brains so much) became an arch rival species in the intellegence department. There's nothing wrong with a crafty zombie, but the portrayal of a throwback species rivaling one of the greatest scientists man has ever known (Will Smith's character) wasn't believable. Further, the zombies themselves displayed abilities that defied physics. One of the subplots had to do with the alternate ending. Being familiar with Sony's special effects department, I was aware of the ending AFTER I had seen this movie in the theatre. The original ending was not a surprise to me because it was implied all throughout the subplot between Will Smith and the zombie leader. The original ending, however, tested so awfully that Sony had less than 2 weeks to manufacture the ending that made it into the theatres. The writers would have done better if they permitted the zombies to "feel" emotions, but kept the spider man like acrobatics and human-like intellegence to be in line with physics and the "reality" portrayed in the destroyed New York city. At the end of the day, this movie was very entertaining and it eliminated all doubt that Will Smith is the blockbuster male actor of Hollywood.Read full review
For anyone not familiar with the backstory: the film is based on a book of the same name by Richard Matheson, first published in 1954. It was filmed first in 1964 in black and white, starring Vincent Price, under the title "Last Man on Earth". In 1971 the story was filmed again as "Omega Man" starring Charlton Heston and the third film is this one - "I Am Legend" starring Will Smith (2007). I avoided seeing the film during its theatrical release. I'm part of the generation that saw "Omega Man" and didn't think that the story would be enhanced by an "update", with lots of special effects, etc. I saw "I Am Legend" for the first time on DVD. While prepared to hate it, I actually ended up liking it. My biggest complaint concerns the humans that undergo transformation into semi-vampiric monsters. Without showing us how normal humans were affected by the run-away virus or explaining how the virus went from being a good thing to a nightmare, there's no empathy generated for the demise of the human race. It's just man vs. monster. Oh well. But I did think that Will Smith did a nice job of portraying Robert Neville. I have the feeling that a lot of what was missing in the film ended up on the cutting-room floor. Too bad. A longer film with more background would have kept my interest up. The film is entertaining and I always enjoy Will Smith. If you want to get more of the story read the book (and while you're at it read everything else Matheson wrote - it's all outstanding).Read full review
Tree roots have buckled the pavement; the weeds on 5th Avenue are plentiful enough to support whole herds of deer. Times Square is prowled by lions rather than tourists. There's not a person in sight anywhere — except Robert Neville, who travels, when the sun is highest in the sky, to the South Street Seaport, to broadcast the same message he's been broadcasting for almost three years: "If anyone is out there, I can provide food, shelter, security. If there's anybody out there ... you are not alone." Manhattan, and indeed the world, has been emptied of humanity by a man-made virus that was supposed to cure cancer. Alas, viruses mutate, and this one developed a deadly strain, killing most humans outright and turning the rest into light-phobic zombies who only come out at night. The island of Manhattan — Ground Zero for the epidemic — has long since been quarantined, all its bridges and tunnels dynamited. Three years later, Neville is the last uninfected resident, a virologist searching for a cure, talking mostly to his dog, and to his tape recorder. "Day 1001," he murmurs. "Vaccine trials continue. I'm still unable to transfer my immunity to infected hosts. ...the cryptovirus is elegant." For much of its length, so is I Am Legend. Hollywood's digitizers have outdone themselves, turning truncated bridges and rusting traffic jams apocalyptic, and Smith, who has to carry much of the film without dialogue, is persuasively stir-crazy and heroic. But sooner or later, of course, those zombies have to appear. When they do, banging their heads against plate glass as movie zombies always do, I started needing something else to think about. 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.Read full review
I AM LEGEND tells us of a man whos immunity to a airbourne type of virus made by man that was supposed to help us, turned astray and nearly wipes out the whole human race. His immunity sends him into a sort of insanity being without human contact for over 3 years. His dog, Sam, is his best friend. His only friend. I LOVE the storyline here. It tells of what I think really would happen if a virus got out among civilians and what drastic moves the military would take to contain it. The computer graphics on the other hand could've been better. The mustang driving through the city at the beginning of the movie was totally cheap. The deer running through the streets and the lions hunting the deer seemed like they came from a Discovery Channel documentary. The monsters (infected people) where better looking than most of the other animation on the film, but it think they should've used real actors in makeup for most of the scenes. I was going to give this film an "excellent" rating, but the animation didn't quite make par, so it was knocked down to "good" Remember, this is only MY opinion. I urge you to watch the movie yourself to make your own judgement...Read full review
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in DVDs & Blu-ray Discs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on DVDs & Blu-ray Discs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
