Matheson gets the Tom Wolfe treatment  again

Rating: 1/10 (1 February 2008)

The Bonfire of the Vanities will forever occupy a special place in my heart as the worst adaptation of a novel to the big screen. From the moment Peter Guber decided Tom Hanks would play Sherman McCoy, the die was cast. Albeit for different reasons, I Am Legend is the latest big budget release to earn a place in the pantheon of adaptation disasters.
Using a mutating virus-as-cancer-cure vector to set the scene, while interesting, is the first indication that staying true to Richard Matheson's vision will not be Warner Bros. chief concern. The casting of a major box office draw-card like Will Smith also strongly suggests a Hollywood ending. But the real killer is the decision to present Robert Neville as a scientist / soldier which dispels any lingering doubts that this will be anything other than a 'hero sacrifices himself for the good of humanity' flick. And therein lies the nub of the problem  the novel's bleak conclusion is one of the story's great strengths but it is clear from very early on that this interpretation will not go down that path. The path it does choose is well-worn and entirely predictable; we've seen it all countless times before.
The film valiantly attempts, within the confines of a 101 minute running time, to portray the monotony and routine of everyday life interspersed with moments of terror (and this Smith does admirably) but that's about it. Frustratingly, what a young George Romero or John Carpenter could have done with Matheson's story and Francis Lawrence's budget we may never know.
If you are looking for a tepid thriller shot full of plot holes (how Neville could broadcast on all AM stations at midday every day for three years but the survivor compound in Vermont never managed to get the message is but one example) with a sell-out ending, I Am Legend will give you what you came for. But if you are after a genuinely thought-provoking movie experience based on a magnificent 'horror' story, this is the worst kind of disappointment.