Controversial and intense but no matter what you think of the film...Will Smith delivers a powerhouse performance

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2008)

The reason to see this film is very simple...one of the greatest performances this year PERIOD. Will Smith. As always I will go into more detail about his performance but it has to be said right from the top that this film is all about and revolves around the performance of Will Smith and he is absolutely phenomenal. I have seen a lot of films this year (approximately 150 to date) and Will Smith might have the best performance of the year. He should but sadly won't get an Oscar nomination from this performance. The brilliance of I Am Legend is that so much of the first half of the film focuses on subjecting us to his life. This is a man who has been robbed of all human contact and literally is left to feel like he is the last man alive. It's not focused on or suggested in the film directly that he is the last man alive because he isn't and I don't think he or the viewers believe that but his isolation is unlike anything we've ever seen. We get a good hard look at his existence not just in one or two days but every day, day in and out and his survival and instinct, and his entertainment, his family, his life...everything and it just grips you because ultimately at least the first three quarters of the film is literally a one man show and I'm not sure anyone could carry it the way Will Smith does.
Not much of a cast to speak which means I can spend more time on the focus of the film...did I mention him? Will Smith plays survivor Robert Neville and completely draws you into his character. He's tough and ruthless in order to survive but so emotionally distraught, lonely and his performance is just moving and completely enthralling, you can't take your eyes off of him. It might be his best performance and he has had some amazing ones before this. Alice Braga, and Charlie Tahan, make a small performance towards the end but nothing significant. I'm not sure I've ever done this before but I MUST give honorable mention to Abby, the Canine pooch that plays Samantha. Kudos to her trainers and to her because she becomes such a viable character and takes you and Smith through such a range of emotions. It's possibly one of the most important roles by an animal ever. Compare her to Wilson from Castaway...only alive.
It is very fortunate for the makers of this film that Will Smith did the job he did because the package around him is not terrific. It's not bad but it has many flaws and part of the problem might be the lack of experience from director Francis Lawrence, who comes from a music video background. The problem with this is music video directors have this habit of feeling the need to cram all the story into the smallest possible package and use cheap special effects as though they were still working in the eighties with White Snake and I Am Legend is the perfect example. The very first scene where we see the 'monsters' as Neville approaches them and shines the light inadvertently on them is downright creepy and disturbing but from then on the 'monsters' look cheesy and ridiculous. The CGI is poor at best and as scary as they are...they look fake and cartoon-y and it ruins the atmosphere of the film completely. The story is good but just some of the small details like the special effects really make the actual film 'just okay.' However the world they create...the New York City presented after this breakout is breath taking and disturbing and silent and ominous and it's really something to see because it feels so real. No matter what the package presents itself as...and unfortunately it's a very short film...the amazing thing about I Am Legend is that the great is REALLY great and makes it a must see movie and something I want to watch again and again. Please see it and enjoy the great things about it and move past the small errors they made. 8.5/10