Emtional, but Flawed Sci-Fi

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2007)

Will Smith is a charismatic actor whose career has spanned a lot of sci-fi films from Men in Black a sci-fi action comedy to I, Robot to Independence Day, his breakout film. But this latest film by him is a bit daring with him being a man against the world, or rather alone against the world. It could be compare to being a Cast Away, but in deserted city instead of a island with only a dog and manikins as company. As a drama this film flourishes with Smith taking on all the deep emotional trauma of trying to stay sane in a silent world with only his own voice to keep him sane. But as a science fiction film it is hampered by jumps of logic which do not quite click.
The story is that the world has been infected by a virus. A virus originally designed to cure cancer which it seemingly did to begin with. But everything went wrong. It seems the doctors forgot to read the fine print. The one that reads side effects may include rabid behavior, a lust for blood, aversion to sunlight, etc Well I guess in any good zombie movie they do not see it coming although these zombies seem to be more like a mixture of zombie and vampire. Anyways, this virus not only turned people into these horrid creatures, but also killed a great portion of the world's population and the rest that were not killed by the air born virus died from the being torn up by the dark seekers, as the people in the film call the creatures infected with the virus. Anyways, it is three years after these events rock the world that we find Robert Neville, Will Smith, working tirelessly to find a cure as well as stay alive in a New York City over run with dark seekers.
It is here that the storyline thrives by focusing on Neville and his struggle to hold onto his humanity. He treats his dog, which has not been infected but can be, like his child. In a few touching scenes, he prepares dinner for the dog and tells him to eat the vegetables which of course the dog does not. He also sets up a video store with manikins to simulate a familiar environment for himself. He talks to some of them familiar and others like the female ones with a bit tentativeness as he would to woo a girl.
The film is full of action as well after good deal of development which gives it a strong base before actually meeting these fearsome dark seekers in the pitch blackness of a building. I do not want to reveal too much about the sequence, but it will get you on the edge of your seat.
I have talked a good deal about the pluses of this film and I am a bit loathed to tear it down, but the effects are split in this film with half being great and half being so-so. The great being the effects for the overgrown city which has been slowly overgrown by vegetation and wild beast with deer flocking through the city and other more fearsome beasts. The so-so effects are on the dark seekers who can easily be distinguished as computer generated.
Other flaws in the storyline also bring down the film on account of the slightly unbelievable turn toward the end and the intelligence of the dark seekers themselves which do not really make all that much sense. Still though, the film is headed by a strong performance from Will Smith which helps bring this film above average and gives it a strong emotional edge.