Smithy the Vampire Slayer

Rating: 8/10 (31 December 2007)

It goes without saying that if you're not a fan of Will Smith, this probably isn't the movie for you. For about ninety percent of the running time, he is the only character to be seen, the sole survivor of a virulent plague that has wiped out the entire human race and left him to spend his days wandering around New York city listening to reggae music and talking to shop window dummies. Doesn't exactly sound like the most entertaining movie in the world does it, I mean how interesting can a two hour film be when all it revolves around is one man and his dog? Actually, it's really enjoyable. In fact it's one of the best post-apocalyptic movies out there. Principally, this is down to Smith's powerful performance, the former Fresh Prince bringing a hopeless sense of loss to his character that makes him a very sympathetic leading man. That and the vampires.
Like 28 Days Later before it, I Am Legend is a film where the fall of man brings with it some incredibly beautiful cinematography. The numerous shots of an empty, dilapidated New York where herds of deer race around abandoned cars and thick grass has grown through the cracks in the pavement lend an eerie, sombre nature to the film. As Smith's Robert Neville moves round this landscape, he is surrounded on all sides by towering skyscrapers that have turned into extravagant bird's nests. It's a disturbing setting and the sight of our protagonist dwarfed by the empty metropolis does wonders for the atmosphere. The special effects team deserve a hearty pat on the back for the first ten minutes alone.
Pity then that the vampires look so rubbish as they had the chance to be truly threatening. The scene where they are first introduced is terrifying, Neville's search for his lost dog through a darkened building ending in a nailbiting chase back to the light. All the tension is dissipated though when you finally get a good look at his foes, badly rendered CGI clichés who look like Gollum on a protein rich diet. The lacklustre villains aren't enough to sink the movie, it's just frustrating to think that make-up and prosthetics would have yielded far more satisfying results.
That aside, I Am Legend is still an incredibly entertaining experience and makes for a worthy last trip to the cinema in 2007. Smith gives one of the best performances of his career and it's worth seeing for the depiction of New York alone. Like all things in life though, it's the little things that make it, a fact made perfectly clear in the opening sequence where an overly confident female scientist appears in a television interview about the miracle cure. She's all smiles and self-satisfaction until the reporter asks if they have found a genuine cure for cancer. For a split second a flicker of doubt appears on her face before the smile returns and she confirms it. The next shot is of an abandoned Times Square that reeks of death.