The story about a man and his dog is not that legendary.

Rating: 7/10 (24 September 2012)

This movie is not legendary. sadly, but it's still worth checking out. It's really good, but can't hold the same value as the IMDb high highs such as Godfather and others. It's should be higher than where it is. The film is based on the book by the same title which was written in 1954 by Richard Matheson, a entire 150 pages book that shows depth and is cleverly written to make one think of their moral stand point, and how our view of humanity may skew our perception of who the real monster is. The book is full of irony and makes a very interesting dark tragedy. This author also penned some other well know tales which became excellent movies including Stir of Echoes and What Dreams May Come that follows that pattern. His writings were also inspiration in many Stephen King novels (The Stand), as well as the first survival horror films such as "Night of the Living Dead" and "Man and his dog" "28 Days Later" and 'Silent Hill". 'I am Legend" also feed the works and movies of "The Last Man on Earth" (1964, Vincent Price), and "The Omega Man" (1971, Charlton Heston). 'The Omega Man' is the closest movie similar to that. In my takes, this would be a remake of that movie. While Richard Matheson book is a great read "I Am Legend" the movie, shows the world in the near future where scientist have recently created a virus altered cure for cancer. After thousands are cured with this revolutionary drug, the virus-cure mutates and eventually leaves the scientist Robert Nevell (Will Smith) as possibly the last man on earth and immune to the virus. The plot follows his life as the only remaining human in a lonely abandoned New York City with his dog and his search for a cure to save the remaining infected populace which remains in a zombie/ vampire/ undead state. This survivalist horror film makes several good moves that gave it the potential to be a great film. It's not a bloody gore-fest of a zombie movie that is a mainstay these days, and that's a good thing, it counter-acts the lack of blood with an edgy and unnerving feel throughout the entire film, especially being set in an abandoned Manhattan. The acting is excellent, and Will Smith's portrayal of being totally alone is on par with Tom Hanks in "Cast Away". It's really capitalizes on the loneliness of the character, who only hope for a normal life is his dog, and a few mannequins he talks as if people. The film kept the same dark feel of the book, but someone decided that all the underlying plot and depth which makes one actually use some brainpower and think about what this story is saying, is unnecessary. So the viewer is left with a movie which starts out strong and slowly dissolves into the same played out special effect heavy, heroic man takes on legions of infected zombie vampires all while trying to save the world action flick. The CGI zombies are just so fake looking. There are subtle hints that someone may have actually read the book before making the movie, but they are easily passed over, and not very prominent. Those who have never read the book (or a book for that matter) will probably love it, and add it to their DVD collection. The other group mostly those who have read the book or who like depth, consistency, and a clever plot line can wait to rent it and be angry that the movie didn't use the original ending. All in all, "I am Legend" is entertaining and has Will Smith in it, that being said, it will not go down as legend and will be in danger of becoming just another zombie movie.