Some good ideas, but ultimately doesn't quite work

Rating: 6/10 (13 January 2009)

This is the third movie version of Richard Matheson's 1954 book 'I Am Legend', coming after 1964's 'The Last Man on Earth' and 1971's 'The Omega Man'. (There are several other versions also, such as 2007's poorly received 'I Am Omega'(!), but these are the two of note). Although I hadn't seen 'The Last Man on Earth' until very recently, after 'I Am Legend' was released, I was a fan of 'The Omega Man', although felt that parts of it let the film down, and was keen to see what a modern remake would do with the concept.
Will Smith gives a very good and likable performance as the lead, Robert Neville. I never used to be overly keen on Smith  I found him rather bigheaded in 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air', but he has emerged as one of the better actors of the era.
Naturally, being a modern movie, the director and producers are obliged to bombard us with a lot of CGI. In fairness, they don't go completely over the top, as some movies of the era have, but even so, there is a fair bit of it. And I wasn't totally keen  the 'monsters' of the movie look too animalistic and too fake; I couldn't really believe in them within the context of the movie, and are one of the things that ultimately lets the film down. We never fully get a 'grip' on the infected beings  it lacks the vampire background of 'The Last Man on Earth' or the hooded beings against science of 'The Omega Man', and this key area of the movie winds up feeling slightly hollow as a result.
There are some good moments  the opening sections of the film are very good, and interestingly filmed. Likewise, Robert Neville is presented to the audience as a likable and intelligent hero. I did feel, though, that it didn't unfold quite as well as 'The Omega Man'.
Aside from being based upon the same novel, 'The Omega Man' and this movie also have something else in common  they both have very promising starts, but the second half of both movies really fall flat. There is the section where Neville gets caught in the trap, which I never really understood, and from there, where he meets survivors Anna and her son Ethan, proceedings rather take a nosedive.
The one big problem with the film is that it can't really decide what it wants to be. The premise of a man being able to go anywhere in the city he pleases by day, but trapped inside his home at night if full of possibilities, and  in both this movie and 'The Omega Man'  begins with this in mind. The early sequences of both films are great, but both ultimately lose their way. In particular, 'I Am Legend' can never really decide what to do with itself. It should be darker and scarier.
The ending is as shocking as it is surprising. I'm mostly glad they went with this and not the alternate ending, which didn't really work for me.
Although I haven't read the original novel, reading up on it online reveals that there are a number of things that haven't made it into the movie. Some have appeared in previous versions, but as yet no version has been completely true to the original book. It appears that in many ways the novel is the best version  I think I might try and track down a copy.