Not a bad flick but hardly a faithful adaptation

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2008)

"I Am Legend" is the third film adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic novel but only the first to use the original title. However, don't let that fact fool you into thinking that this film hews any closer to the source material. Still, that doesn't stop the film from being a decent effort in it's own right.
The story takes place a few years in the future after a miracle cure sparks a virus outbreak that kills 90% of the earth's population and leaves the few immune individuals to be terrorized by bloodthirsty, zombie-fied hosts.
Sounds more like "28 Days Later" than the novel "I Am Legend", right? Yes, the screenwriters basically chose to throw out any reference to vampirism and go the copycat route. Even the meaning of the title is twisted around to a different purpose. That being said, the story is a pretty good one, judged on it's own merits.
There's not much to remark of in terms of the cast. For most of the film Will Smith is the only human around. Smith is a reliable leading man and is certainly up to the task here.
The film's look is pretty good and manages to create a fairly convincing New York that is virtually devoid of human life. The CGI, on the other hand, isn't 100% believable in my opinion. Music is sparse, which is fitting for the material.
In the end, I thought that this was a good horror/action film. However, if you're looking for something that's (a) faithful to the novel, or (b) not a blatant rip-off of "28 Days Later", then you'd be advised to look elsewhere.