They missed it again...

Rating: 5/10 (26 July 2008)

This was a fair movie. This is the third attempt I am aware of to film Richard Matheson's book I Am Legend...and for the third time, they still missed the essence of the book. (The other versions were The Omega Man, with Charlton Heston; and The Last Man on Earth, with Vincent Price) And, actually, this version misses the best parts of the book even more than the Charlton Heston version does. And this was REALLY disappointing, because I think Will Smith really pulled the Neville part off well...if only the script had even remotely compared to the original.
They really missed something by having the plague victims be nameless, faceless monsters. In the book and the other movie versions, the plague victims KNEW and REMEMBERED Neville from before the plague. This was MUCH more chilling than what we were delivered here. Neville's sacrifice was also much more symbolic and poignant in the book and other movies.
I would say the special effects were good...except the CGI was so obvious that they really did not allow for a good 'suspension of disbelief'.
If you were at all interested in this movie, do yourself a favor and READ THE BOOK!