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Review #584 of 365
Movie Review of I Am Legend (2007) [PG-13] 101 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.00
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When Seen: 13 December 2007
Time: 11:59 pm
DVD Release Date: 18 March 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Soundtrack: order the CD below
Directed by: Francis Lawrence (Constantine)
Screenplay by: Mark Protosevich (Poseidon) • Akiva Goldsman (The Da Vinci Code) based on 1971 screenplay by John Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington based on the novel by Richard Matheson
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness) • Alice Braga (Journey to the End of the Night) • Charlie Tahan (Once Upon a Film) • Salli Richardson ("Eureka") • Willow Smith (debut) • Darrell Foster (Hitch) • April Grace ("The Nine") • Dash Mihok (Firehouse Dog) • Joanna Numata (debut)
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Remember when action-packed, adventure or sci-fi event, Will Smith films were the lead in to 4th of July fireworks after a huge, all-you-can-eat, barbequed beef ribs dinner at a little joint off of 120th and Broadway in NYC? Well, I Am Legend would have fit rather better back in the middle of the year not surrounded so much by Oscar® contenders—not that Transformers isn't Oscar-worthy, at least technical awards and sound and such. It's just that seeing Will Smith over-act surrounded by performances that will be among some of the best of the year is practically painful, whereas, back in July it might have seemed right on. The worst part is that he takes his legendary character to some physical and mental extremes that were just that, too extreme. Had he toned them down just even a little, the movie would have been a bit better, and his fans a bit less shocked by how much they really didn't enjoy his performance. At face value, you've got a story, which if it's not blatantly obvious from the marketing campaign concerns the release of a mutated virus that kills 90% of the world's population, leaves 1% unaffected, and the sad remaining 9% into cannibalistic super humanoids of surreal strength and physical agility but with a fortunate extreme vulnerability to UV radiation from the sun. Therefore, these so-called Dark Seekers become highly nocturnal. Hence why, Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith), who is one of the 1% and ,coincidentally, the only man left on the planet with a prayer of finding a cure for the disease caused by the virus, lives in his brownstone in Manhattan with his canine companion, Sam—a magnificent, but occasionally not too bright German Shepard--which he's retrofitted to be completely impenetrable and sealed off with pull-down, steel doors on every window and door. During the day, he conducts his research on a cure, hunts deer who seem to be able to run a lot faster than they should be able to, gathers food and supplies from abandoned apartments, avoids dark places, and visits the video store for new DVDs to watch (he's all the way to the G-section). Here, he converses with the mannequins and is even encouraged by Sam to get up the nerve to talk to this really nice lady who's, for some reason, surveying the adult section. From his nightmares, we learn what happened (see the
spoiler if you want to know), and we get a sense of what is driving him in his work. Part of it is guilt and part of it is undeniable hope that he can save the future of humanity. He keeps saying throughout, "I can fix this." But, his isolation and his sense that he is totally alone in the world other than these monstrosities he occasionally collects to use as 'human' subjects for his research eventually take their toll on him mentally. There are signs he's starting to lost a bit of it, but one especially tragically event pushes him over the edge leading to the inevitable climatic battle straight out of Panic Room only with a cannibalistic zombie twist.
Director Francis Lawrence using a screenplay by Mark Protosevich adapted from an earlier screenplay and book by Richard Matheson, has created a very dark film about one man's ultimate will to survive even when there's literally nothing left for which to live. One of the most viscerally frightening film of the year if not the decade, there's just about every kind of scare tactic known weaved into the fabric of this story from things that jump out unexpectedly to the fear of being alone to the cataclysmic fear of the apocalypse itself. The timing of the dates were even set to coincide with the year 2012—the magical Mayan Calendar reset year which has captivated the "Coast to Coast with George Noory" fans for years. The realism of a New York City, ground zero for the viral release, now a thriving savage jungle empty of people but alive with flora and fauna growing all over an area once home to 7 million people, is one of the more unnerving elements of the film. As Neville travels about in his various cars he's collected and checks out his 'kingdom' one cannot help but relate to what he's feeling. Will Smith does a top-notch job in exploring nearly all of the emotions one could imagine associated with being a man in his position, the last man on earth. It's only when things get really bad and he starts to look and act like he's having mild seizures that either the character or the portrayal start to fail a bit.
"…the most viscerally frightening film of the year if not the decade…"
He is the legend. How can he be failing and flailing so? In some ways, it's interesting and maybe more realistic. It's certainly sadder and even more unnerving. Unfortunately, nothing in what he's prepared, constructed, orchestrated or methodically surveyed would show the cracks necessary for his character to plummet or behave the way he does under some unimaginable levels of dire stress. He's a military lt. colonel—not that people of this rank might not fold under such pressures and mental isolation. In any case, the tragic either aspects of the character as written or the extreme edges of the performance diminishes the effectiveness of the film a bit. Not enough to reach the point of campy, but enough to make one wish Francis Lawrence might have reined it in a bit. It's also difficult to believe in several of the decisions his character makes mid-film for the same reason. Even if he were starting to lose it, his survival instincts if not his training typically would kick in at times of high stress and not the other way around. Ultimately, also, there seems to be something going on of which he's completely oblivious that should be more obvious to him. We can figure it out, but he never seems to, not even in the final moments of the film—more on that in the
spoiler.
I Am Legend, therefore, falls into the category of being an outstanding July film, and one of the more middle of the road December films. For people seeking to escape the Academy Award® nominees, here's the ticket. This is one mind-numbing, effects-drivendeeply disturbing and depressing film inasmuch as it offers a satisfying, though underdeveloped, ending and an important glimpse into the future of the power of humanity to serve as its own worst enemy when we place too much hope in trying to defeat the natural world.
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Cast Members
Will Smith • Alice Braga • Charlie Tahan
Salli Richardson • Willow Smith • Darrell Foster
April Grace • Dash Mihok • Joanna Numata
Director
Francis Lawrence
Writers
Mark Protosevich • Akiva Goldsman
Review-lite
I Am Legend (2007) [max of 150 words]
Francis Lawrence, using a screenplay by Mark Protosevich, has created a very dark film about one man's ultimate will to survive even when there's literally nothing left to live for. Probably the most viscerally frightening film of the decade, there's nearly every kind of scare tactic known from things that jump out unexpectedly to the cataclysmic fear of the apocalypse. Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville explores nearly all of the emotions one could imagine associated with being the last man on earth. I Am Legend falls into the category of being an outstanding July film, yet one of the more run-of-the-mill December films. Use it to escape higher brow Academy Award® nominees as it is one mind-numbing, effect-driven, depressing film inasmuch as it offers a satisfying, though underdeveloped, ending and an important glimpse into the future of the power of humanity to destroy itself.
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