A good movie and a great performance

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2008)

This movie was really very good and not at all your typical post-apocalyptic zombie horror film. Rather than everything being all dark and dreary, there is the feel as though the planet is going back to nature. All in all not a bad future to look forward to if you can get past the whole man eating monster, genocidal virus thing. Will Smith gives an extremely memorable performance in this movie and really brings audiences along with him as he struggles to make it through daily life. All the more credible is his performance given the fact that he is, for all intents and purposes, the only actor of the movie. Viewers will sympathize with his mannequin interaction and his television reruns as he attempts to ward off the loneliness. And they will feel his relationship with his faithful German Shepard, Sam as well as the anguish when Sam dies. Although we don't really see him kill the dog, the pain he is going through is written all over his face and the audience will be almost as grief stricken as Neville himself is. That said, there were some problems with the movie. For example, the monsters movement and the overall way they looked at times seemed improbable. I felt that there was too much CGI and not enough real actors in makeup playing the part. Also there could have been more of a back story and more of an explanation of how things went on during the three years from the evacuation scene to the new world. Also, if these 'dark seekers' are supposed to be all instinct and no higher brain function, then who moved the mannequin and who set the snare trap that Neville got caught in. Pretty sophisticated for a bunch of mindless zombies. Also the ending and the survivor's colony, I thought was kind of a weak ending given the strength of the movie up till then.
That being said this is a very good film and a great way to spend an hour and a half. Will this movie scare you? Yes. Will this movie move you? Yes. Will this film win any Oscars? Probably not but who cares. Good job Will Smith, good job Francis Lawrence.