Entertaining, but ultimately disappointing............................

Rating: 7/10 (3 January 2008)

I Am Legend is a post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film, which is loosely based on the 1954 Richard Matheson novel of the same name. I really hoped to like this film, from first hearing about it via Total Film Magazine and from seeing the first trailer hitting the web. Having previously enjoyed the earlier film adaptations "The Last Man on Earth" & "The Omega Man".
First the good.....in two words Will Smith. His performances are getting consistently better and more mature with every film that he makes. The deserted look of New York City is also very believable and well shot. Also there's an outstanding performance by Sam the German Shepherd.
Now the bad........the CGI on everything life like or non static is sub standard to terrible. By this I mean everything from the Deer, Lions and more importantly the infected/vampire/night seeker creature things. This is inexcusable for a film to have reportedly cost in excess of $150 million US to make.
**** WARNING SPOILERS **** The film is told with flashbacks which work quite well, but more character development for the Anna and Ethan characters would have aided the story more. In my opinion the film is also way to short at only 100 minutes, it really could of done with being at least 120 minutes. While not being quite what I expected, I did enjoy moments and really hope that a longer running directors cut is released with more polished / improved CGI.
6.5/10
The UnderCoverCritic