No, no, NO!

Rating: 3/10 (10 January 2008)

At first I was really excited when I heard that there would be a remake of Mathesons novella (The first attempt I know of is Omega Man).
Matheson is in my opinion one of the great sci-fi writers of the USA and this short story was just perfect for a film adaptation if done right. And that's where it starts breaking down. The book's story is bleak and depressing. Neville is basically an above average drunk who is coping with solitude, depression, and struggling with the fact he had to kill his wife. Will Smith as the lead character however, is a super smart scientist with the DOD and his wife died in a helicopter accident. He is chiseled, intelligent and has a huge luxurious house in Manhattan, and in the opening scene he races a brand new shiny Ford mustang through the empty streets of NY.
In the book, he is hunter by day and hunted by semi intelligent vampires at night. This added so much suspense to the book that is completely gone in the movie. The woman he meets and who eventually betrays him is turned into a sappy family looking for a knight in shining armor. Again, Hollywood sacrifices fantastic plot, emotion and suspense for safe box office revenue. The final chapter, where Neville is killed to give way to a new race was (to me) deep and profound, so becoming 'Legend'. The last man.
None of that in this Hollywood movie though. They have shareholders to please and therefore movies that don't have a happy ending or where disturbing things happen are a no no and only for indie films. They could make movie goers unhappy. So instead of a great story that makes you think, they replace all of it with candy and a formulaic approach to a horror-thriller; Smith gets to be the hero and saves the day (with the previous paragraphs I have written that's hardly a spoiler). Another great book raped. I gave it 3/10 because I was able to finish it and it killed an hour and a half.