The Man Who Dreaded Sundown

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2007)

Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" has undergone such high-profile film adaptations (from 3 different eras) with diminishing success, that the terms of "faithful adaptation" and "remake" have become fairly absurd. "The Last Man On Earth" (1964), co-scripted by Matheson (under a pseudonym) and starring Vincent Price was the first; "The Omega Man" (1971) re-imagined the vampire tale as a Hollywood action flick with Charlton Heston. Now, in 2007, Francis Lawrence ("Constantine"and a million music videos) has used the original title for a semi-faithful adaptation blended with old-school tension-building tactics and carefully rationed CGI.
The premise is simple: a plague has wiped out most of the population (exempting a infinitesimal number of immune cases), and survivor Robert Neville spends his days foraging for food and supplies in a desolate New York City, returning to his fortified, barricaded house to elude the "infecteds" that roam the streets by night. He believes himself the only survivor of the plague (here caused by a cancer-cure side effect) and devotes his own efforts to concocting a serum to reverse the plague's effects.
I was not a fan of the overblown "Constantine," but "Legend" shows Lawrence's technique in a more confident place. There is plenty of CG spectacle on displayeasily the most stunning I've seen to dateand while the Hollywood model is to exploit this to the point of overkill, Lawrence balances it against scenes of quiet solitude and suspense-sequences that can be intensely claustrophobic and ominously open. The landscape of a plague-ravaged New York is at once a stunning marvel of digital imaging and jaw-dropping isolation and horrora maze of car-clogged streets and human desolation.
As Neville, Will Smith veers away from the cute and comedic roles that have permeated his career, and proves he can carry a film that's essentially a downbeat, one-man show with great success. Unlike the chest-thumping machismo of Charlton Heston, Smith's Neville conveys an authenticeven sadsense of loneliness, loss, andwhen two survivors cross his pathan awkward, clumsy re-integration into normal human interaction. Even the scenes between Neville and his dog, Sam, possess a pathos because the relationship is crucial to Neville's own sanity and day-to-day function.
Yet if the post-plague scenes (set in 2012) contain a visceral, urgent quality, then the fragmented flashbacks (spliced in at deliberate moments) of a panic-stricken mob seeking passage out of the City when the plague hits recreates the panic and fear of a post-9/11, post-Katrina scenario of a world goingand goneto hell. These sceneslike the CGIare presented in intense snippets, shot in a cinema-verite style that maximizes their impact. Lawrence places us INSIDE the panicked mob, and the effect is absolutely chilling.
The suspense is also frequently brought to an unbearable swellwhen Neville has to retrieve Sam from an abandoned, pitch-dark bank, the tension builds beautifully (as an ironic counterpoint, the world outside is bright with afternoon light). Same goes for a scene in which Neville falls prey to a booby-trap and must crawl back to his car as the sun rapidly sets and ravenous "plague dogs" spring in his direction (a particularly excellent marriage of old-school suspense tactics and current technology).
On the downside, the "infecteds" are largely lacking in personality, reduced to howling mutants with little more than fresh meat in mindthough it's better than the all-to-eloquent existentialist of "The Omega Man." And near the end, we're expected to believe that Neville has wired the area surrounding his house (underground, even) with hi-test explosives. And the film concludes on a note that, while satisfactory for this particular narrative, misses the point of Matheson's novel. But that aside, "I Am Legend" is a thoroughly satisfying entertainmenta carefully controlled mix of sci-fi spectacle and action, a strong performance by Smith, and a thoughtful meditation on what mankind's actions can wind up reaping.
7.5 out of 10