Soared High, But Fell Hard

Rating: 2/10 (18 December 2007)

The brief response: This movie soared very high, but just as everything that rises must fall, so did this film's story. And when it fell, baby, it fell hard.
The abundantly lengthy response: I Am Legend. At the end of Richard Matheson's novel, these were the words that send chills running along the back of your neck, and made you break out in goosebumps. Because these were the words of the last human being on the face of the earth, a remnant of a much older, and much more familiar age.
Sadly, these words do not have the same effect upon the film's audience that it does with those who have read the book. In fact, those three words, which simply define the movie and it's rather morbid sense of humor perfectly, make absolutely no sense in the film adaption. Or, at least, the only sense they make is unbelievably trite and cliché. Because in Matheson's I Am Legend, Robert Neville is a legend amongst the last living (or otherwise) inheritors of the earth; vampires. The entire story revolves around this fact, of the earth passing from one set of hands to the next, with Robert being eventually one of the casualties of the age, and being blessed (or cursed) with the ability to watch the transition with his own eyes. Essentially, if you do not have at least this one fact, you do not have I Am Legend.
Which is why I would have been happier if the film's crew had simply changed some minor facts, shamelessly stealing the story's plot devices of course, under a different, less recognizable name. Essentially, a remake of Omega Man.
When this movie began, I was extremely hopeful. Of course, there were small changes. Making his companion the dog fated to starvation in the novel gave Smith more to work with for Neville's characterization, and to portray his slow spiral into insanity and back again with more brevity. Changing the main character from a factory-worker-turned-scientist into a soldier-turned-scientist was not a terribly big deal either, and in my opinion helped to lend slightly more credibility to the fact he cured the "incurable" virus in three years. Which brings me to the virus itself, which I found very interesting. Though the vampires themselves were dreadfully done in the movie, the idea behind the virus being a cure for cancer was very clever, though given the choice between Matheson's genuinely fresh and interesting vampires and the film's recycled "viral zombie" horde, I would stick strictly to the literature.
Finally, the ending. This was were I found myself the most in disagreement with. Because up until the film's ending, I was still hopeful. Yes, serious changes had been made, but I had still believed that the film's link to the novel could be maintained, and still produce a quality film to boot. Unfortunately, my hopes were shattered. I will admit though, they had me fooled for quite some time. I had believed that the two sole survivors (only the woman, in the novel) would prove to be the spies cleverly sent in by the more intelligent vampires to take Neville, as it was in the book. I was surprised to find that this was not the case; indeed, many hints had been let that she was not entirely truthful about where she had come from, and her distinct lack of knowledge with popular culture led me to believe that the movie would try to remain as close to the book as possible, while still maintaining a blockbuster status. It was to my displeasure, and shock, to find that the film's script completely coped out, with a half assed ending and a cliché message, in which the entire focus of the movie is lost to the film trying desperately to patch up the metaphorical holes it rent into the story. The final spoken words in the film are what proved to me that there must have been some kind of dispute which led to this final outcome. Because up until a certain point, I believe the movie was still salvageable. But I am led to believe that a certain person, or group, got involved and turned this gripping and compelling story straight out of the sky, and into the ground. It's a pity, I had hoped that the story would get a better treatment. Oh well, maybe they'll get it right with the next book to movie adaptation.
I highly doubt it though.