REVIEW: I AM LEGEND

 BY AJ DAZZY D

     I Am Legend is the latest adaptation of the classic 1950s novel by the same name.  Famous in the halls of geekdom, this novel has previously come to film in the well known Omega Man and the not-so well known The Last Man on Earth.  The Will Smith helmed movie swarmed into theaters this December, but is it a true heir to this sci-fi royalty?

     I Am Legend the novel was one of the first stories to give a scientific, rather than supernatural, explanation for vampirism and put hordes of monsters roaming a post apocalyptic world.  One can trace its influence to Night of the Living Dead and the sci-fi vampire movies like Blade.  Let’s take a spoilerific look at this new take on the end of the world.

     Robert Neville is a military scientist living in the cold, dead heart of New York City.  He hunts wild deer on overgrown streets.  Accompanied by his dog Sam, he stockpiles supplies, he grows crops—he’s organized and regimented.  Methodically, he documents animal trials in a never ending series of failures. 

     Inter-spliced are flashbacks to his last night with his family.  Racing to put his wife and son on an air-lift before the quarantine of Manhattan Island, Neville promises to take care of his son’s dog Sam.  Jets take out the remaining bridges as they fight to escape—and then Neville wakes to his living nightmare.

     More Omega Man than The Last Man on Earth, this movie focuses on the Neville’s loneliness.  The shots and writing beats hammer point that he’s all alone.  So, alone that when the other survivors/still-living show up you actually are pretty shocked even though this is part of every version of the story.  But unlike both previous movies and the novel there almost no suggestion of the new mutant or vampire society fearing the legendary monster that stalks the day, killing their kind.  Hence the name.

     The movie takes an ultra realistic feel, drawing on familiar landmarks and brand names to anchor the story in our contemporary world.  The camera follows Neville almost exclusively, giving the story telling a nearly the first person perspective.  Wisely, the filmmakers skip out on explaining every detail.  When a lion appears on screen the movie wastes no time explaining how the lion got there (if you’re not smart enough to figure it broke out of the zoo or something, you’re probably not smart enough to question it).  Neville happens to have a lab in his basement, but that’s no reason to waste time explaining why.  The bare bones exposition is built in seamlessly to the story progression.  However, if one takes the time to film Neville pumping out a dozen pull ups, a little more exposition on the disease could have helped a tad.

     The truth is I Am Legend misses a couple of steps.  While the acting is good and writing clever, there’s at least two clear issues.  Beside the fact animal lovers might be upset.

     First, the CGI “dark seekers” are just a little too CGI.  There’s a difference between orcs and robots, the small imperfections aren’t noticed, but the human form is a different story.  They just looked wrong.  Then again, CGI lets the monsters be hyper-kinetic and super-strong.

     Second, and this is a nit-pick, Legend tries to tell you after the big scene why everything is falling apart.  Anime does this all the time with great success.  But here, when Neville goes Old Yeller on Sam, we find out a few scenes too late why this is such a pivotal event.  Perhaps, the late reveal is meant to make Neville’s contact with survivors tenser.  Neville’s routine makes it seem like he’s going to keep his promise to stop the virus.  He appears to have hope.  In reality, his family died and Sam was his very last link to hope and sanity.  Everyone is gone.  Sam was everything to him.  This is why he risked death to save Sam; why he tries to commit suicide.  The late reveal confused at least one reviewer who accused Sam’s death of revealing nothing. 

     Even disjointed as it is, Legend takes a good whack at the post-apocalyptic genre.  Will Smith is always likable, but here he shows skill at playing a difficult character.  Don’t expect to get the novel or an end of the world movie that will replace Night of the Living Dead.  Good, not super great, but pretty good.