Not the real "I am Legend"...

Rating: 3/10 (8 February 2008)

I have to wonder why this movie has the name of a book, if it isn't based on it. Plenty of spoilers ahead...
The original "I am Legend" book (and "The Last Man on Earth" movie, with Vincent Price, to a lesser extent) is the complete opposite from this film. I suppose Will Smith's ego and Hollywood could never allow a movie where the main character is not a hero (or one in his own mind), but a modern day Dracula (which is what the original Robert Neville really was, and the reason why he became a legend). True; "The Last Man on Earth" didn't strictly adhere to the original book, either, but it was close enough to make some sense. "The Omega Man", as awfully dated as it is today (just look at the disco zombies!) at least kept some of the overall feel.
But this movie? Nah, it's too busy with Will Smith to be something memorable. While the original movie and book had Robert Neville fighting for survival, killing zombies at day and losing his mind at night, this Robert Neville plays golf, shoots deer, drives fast cars and lives a life of luxury (where did the electricity come from, by the way? At least this question was answered in The Last Man on Earth).
While the ending is somewhat similar among the three movies, this one lacks the overall tension of the other ones - these zombies look as if they came out of a video game console. And besides, what kind of tension exists between them and Robert Neville, if Neville never tried to kill them in the first place (as in the book and the other movies?) Even worse - it's explicitly said around 12 million people survived the disease - so, why is Robert Neville supposedly the only man on earth - which is the original premise of the book? Gotta go. I need to watch "The Last Man on Earth" yet again. Try to find it - it's public domain now!