Smith is Legend

Rating: 8/10 (5 January 2008)

The curiously titled I am Legend is a surprising breath of fresh air in an otherwise bland lineup of recent, similar titles. This is down to both the excellent performance from Smith and also the genuinely atmospheric post apocalyptic setting.
Expanding on that, Smith really shines as Dr. Robert Neville, portraying a man pushed to the brink of insanity with just the right amount of Smith's trademark humour. Witnessing the good Doctors' day to day life, with his only living companion a dog named Sam, in the empty streets of New York is one of the films greatest highlights.
In its opening scenes Legend is reminiscent of 28 Days Later and Cast Away, although there is some real doses of claustrophobic terror as Smith comes closer to the ghouls lurking in the shadows, and at points could be likened to the original Alien. However, the film does perhaps lose an element of this genuinely intense atmosphere as the ghastly 'Dark Seekers' are revealed in all their polygonal glory. As is the case in most scary flicks, the 'monster' is always most effective when you never quite see it.
This is a minor gripe, however I feel the main drawback of Legend is that it is quite frankly, too short! I can only assume that the reason for this movie just about reaching the 100 mins mark is due to doubts that a movie containing primarily one human character wouldn't captivate a modern audience for very long. However, after viewing Legend, you will probably find yourself wanting more of Dr. Neville, even if he is alone.
We can only hope that there will perhaps be an extended edition released on DVD giving the film the screen time it deserves, but for now, Legend is definitely worth seeing on the big screen.