Not As Scary As Hoped; Best Part - Will Smith

Rating: 6/10 (18 December 2007)

"I Am Legend" reminded me of several other movies.
It wasn't as jarring and disturbing as "Planet of the Apes," also about a dystopic future in which one heroic man battles a world driven mad by an evil synergy of human, scientific hubris hand in hand with natural selection, a world whose bizarre features render him a freak.
It wasn't as nightmare scary as "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Making the mutants cgi special effects rather than actual human beings rendered them less frightening and disturbing.
"I Am Legend" wasn't as deep or detailed a depiction of a man alone in a hostile environment that he fashions to his own needs as was "Castaway." But, it was pretty good. Nice special effects of Manhattan without humans. I wish there had been a scene of Smith entering a candy store and eating all the candy he wanted, and another of Smith entering a clothing store and trying on expensive suits. Haven't we all harbored such fantasies since childhood? The best part of "I Am Legend": Will Smith's star power.
Will Smith really is a movie star, in the old fashioned sense. He is larger than life and charismatic. The viewer's eyes go to him. You like him. You trust him. He's on your side, telling your story.
Time to see Will Smith in another straight drama. It's been too long since "Six Degrees of Separation."