A legend worth remembering...

Rating: 7/10 (18 December 2007)

I Am Legend/2007/***
Main Stars: Robert Neville: Will Smith Anna: Alice Braga
The title is perfect. Basically, the entire film is Robert Neville (Will Smith) and creatures. So he is legend because it says so in the title. When I first heard about this film I seriously didn't have a clue what it was about. And, to tell you the truth, I really didn't know what it was about when I walked into the theater, sat down, and watched. It took practically thirty minutes for me to understand the plot because the majority of the beginning was Will Smith saying perhaps one or two words to his dog and sniping deer. That was about it.
The setting: Manhattan. If you haven't heard anything about the film or read an outline then you most likely wouldn't understand what's going on, just like I didn't. All I knew was that Manhattan had some sort of tragic accident and it resulted in the entire city being evacuated. The special effects were quite convincing in the beginning. Whoever designed what Manhattan would look like without any people occupying it, did an excellent job. Talk about a difficult job. The streets are constantly flooded but not for this.
I liked the beginning because there weren't too many jumping scenes, horrifying images, etc. It was quiet perhaps too quiet. Because then the true action began with unconvincing CGI creatures that were supposed to look like diseased humans but looked more like zombies. What's the difference, though? They had similar features to humans but their mouths were about triple the size of a normal human. They were also paler, uglier, and greasier than humans and that's about it. Triple-sizing their mouths can only mean one thing. These creatures won't speak; they'll just scream for no reason taking up the entire screen with their mouth, which you see a lot of times in horror films with also nasty creatures and gigantic mouths. How else will they be heard?
Do we need to hear them? No. I preferred if they didn't scream at all so they wouldn't disturb the peace. But once I heard the first bellow I knew the movie was gonna last for quite a while.
It didn't. The movie actually ended rather abruptly just like it started.
So how did these once normal humans turn into these annoying, abnormal humans? Well, a virus spread throughout the vicinity, killing way too many. He was the only one left. He sent out radio messages for about three years without an answer, hoping, just hoping there would be someone to answer to him, someone out there he could help or perhaps someone who could help him.
He lived an O.K. life. He and his dog lived in a house he once lived in with his wife and kid. Flashbacks demonstrated it throughout the film. Usually when he was sleeping, it would flip to a flashback to show us what was happening and how it happened, and then later it would all become clearer to us.
Most importantly, though, you must watch the beginning scene. All it shows for about a minute is an interview with a doctor (played by Emma Thompson) on TV. Listen to the interview. We soon see Will Smith and his dog three years later.
The movie did flip around a lot so pay attention.
Now obviously there has to be a human that shows up eventually. Yeah. Anna (Alice Braga) and her son Ethan (Charlie Tahan) show. How did they get there, knowing that all bridges were destroyed, all humans were gone, only manikins were in stores, and objects, animals, and creatures are the only sources of life? Perhaps they swam or took a boat. They obviously cared a lot about Neville and wanted to save him. Why did she show up all of the sudden? Divine intervention, perhaps? Francis Lawrence is a good director. I have to credit him the most because there wasn't much of a screenplay. Instead, Neville just fights these "superhumans" and uses his dog as a companion. Lawrence, however, builds the suspense in a way we really like. Smith did a wonderful job. He's a good actor, but maybe this time it wasn't all acting.
Movie directed by Francis Lawrence.