I Am Legend (2007) **1/2

Rating: 6/10 (16 December 2007)

I'm a huge fan of the two earlier film versions of this story - certainly of THE OMEGA MAN and, to a lesser extent, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. Being a sucker for most end-of-the-world science fiction movies in general, I was game enough to see what could be done at this late date for Richard Matheson's classic 1954 novel I AM LEGEND. To start off with, I'm relieved that this third adaption has its own title to keep it separate from the other two. After all, in this day of remakes run amuck, we need to be thankful for small favors.
If this had been several years ago I would surely have moaned even at the thought of Will Smith taking on this lead role; but fortunately he has proved himself a pretty decent actor and movie hero in recent times. Here he takes the crucial role of Robert Neville, a scientist left alive in New York City after the rest of the world has died off from the effects of a wonder drug which promised to cure cancer but actually wound up rendering mankind virtually extinct. Neville spends his days searching out other possible survivors along with his lovable canine companion, a faithful German shepherd named Sam (short for Samantha). At night he must bolt his doors to seal himself off from a mob of rabid Computer Simulated maniacs who are what now remains of his past civilization.
On the positive side, I thought Will Smith was VERY good, and there were some gripping emotional moments from him. He was quite believable as the last desperate man left alive on Earth, and the touching moments spent along with his lone friend Sam are very strong. The chilling effect of a desolate New York City left in turmoil was nicely realized. On the negative side, the film comes crashing down like lead every time we are subjected to the fake-looking hairless night monsters on the prowl who are "the infected". Tragically, we are subjected to that awful and overused modern day trend of needlessly depending on CGI renderings instead of using real actors. Why is it considered necessary to have these cartoon-like ravenous creatures zipping and zooming and ricocheting all about at lightning speed, loudly roaring with their extra-wide mouthes agape a la Stephen Sommers' THE MUMMY? This is a damn shame because it completely trashed what was otherwise shaping up to be a fine film indeed. Also missing from this movie is a strong sense of motivation, something which both THE LAST MAN ON EARTH and THE OMEGA MAN each had. There is no interaction with the crazed mutations, for example; they seem to exist here solely because it's what's expected in the story, and not for any solid plot point.
If you've either already seen the past two incarnations of Matheson's book, or been into horror and science fiction movies for any length of time, or at least have seen either the 2004 DAWN OF THE DEAD remake or 28 DAYS LATER, you're bound to feel that I AM LEGEND gives you a sense of aimless deja vu. **1/2 out of ****