Excellent - definitely would watch it anytime

Rating: 10/10 (4 April 2011)

Will Smith stars in this latest of the several film imaginings of the 1950's novel by Richard Matheson. Smith plays a man who believes that he is the last person left alive after a biological apocalypse that has killed most everyone, and made all those left into zombie or vampire-like monsters who can not survive sunlight.
The monsters seem driven to constant violence and cannibalism, and incapable of anything resembling intellect or humanity. Worse, the apocalypse was man-made, the result of viral genetic engineering done in an attempt to cure cancer. Smith, in turn, a scientist, is driven to find the cure to reverse this civilization-ending catastrophe. His own family was killed by the chaos that resulted from the outbreak of the epidemic.
Will Smith has made more than enough films to convince me that he is excellent in comedy, as an action hero, and as a dramatic actor. This film is perhaps his best dramatic performance yet.
I fondly remember "The Omega Man" released in 1971, based on the same book, starring Charlton Heston, one of the most popular actors of his day. Heston was handsome, charming, strong, rugged, fearless... everything movie-goers at the time wanted in a superstar. And he played his part that way. He was heroic in almost every way.
Smith plays the role in a way more fallible and believable. He treats his only companion, Sam (short for Samantha) his dog, as if she were his child. He talks to himself and store manikins as if the world were still full of other humans. At the same time, he exhibits the same self-destructive actions as Heston, understandable in a world with so little to live for. His efforts to find a cure have yielded no results, but he remains determined.
When he finally comes across other survivors, events happen to bring to a head the contrast of his carefully protected and hidden environment, and the reality surrounding him. And then there are the alternative endings...
If you see this movie, definitely watch both endings. Watch the original theatrical release ending first. It seems the most consistent with the book.
But don't miss the alternative. I will not reveal anything, but watch for the butterflies... the butterfly Smith's kid forms with her hands, the one Sam chases, the one on the sign Smith passes, the shape in the cracks of the plexiglas when the alpha male hurls himself against it, the one the alpha male smears in his blood onto the plexiglas with his hand, and the one on the neck of the alpha female. What Smith suddenly realizes is nothing short of stunning. What he does is fearless. What happens next is positively memorable.