As a film it was great...adaptation....not so much.

Rating: Null/10 (16 September 2009)

Book/Film comparison. Story: I noticed everyone posting about just how good I Am Legend is as a movie. In all honesty as a movie I Am Legend was good, but compared to the book the film just doesn't even get close to what Robert Neville experiences as the last man on Earth. I know you can't be too picky as far as Hollywood affected film adaptations go but I can't help but feel cheated by this film. I understand the liberties taken to make the book more enjoyable to see as a movie, but by the end of the movie I could see that they'd missed a great opportunity to make a truly epic film of what it really is like to be the last man on Earth. The book was truly about one man's survival and that he not only fought against the "infected" but also against himself. Robert Neville was a drunk, and throughout the novel continues to live on against it all not able to take his own life because he's afraid to. He wasn't a doctor in the book, but I thought it was a good idea to keep him as one that way you could make the idea of a cure possible to be introduced. In the novel it wasn't so much about Neville finding out how to cure the virus, but to find out how it had affected the body and hopefully just maybe could find a cure utilizing his own immune blood.
Infected: The infected in the film I thought was completely stupid and ridiculous in the way they we're portrayed and handled. I understand again that everyone that has read the book has their own interpretations of them and that just bare w/ me on this one. In the novel they did have augmented strength and agility but they weren't ravenous, stupid 28 days later-esquire zombies. They really were people that were sick. Due to the virus they were allergic to sunlight, but they still maintained their minds only they now wanted blood and would do what it took to get it. Though acting like a bunch of animals they acted in packs and if driven to just like humans would feast on each other just to survive. Another note on the infected, okay; one of the reasons why Neville was able to stay sane for years was because of Ben Cortman. Every night when the infected came out they were led by Cortman; and would continuously attempt to coax Neville out of his home. Without the inclusion of Cortman I felt another great opportunity was missed to really show Neville's shaky grasp of his sanity.
Robert Neville: As I'd touched on above in my story comparison, it's true in the novel it was about one mans survival as the last man on Earth. Robert Neville battles alcoholism and depression. Will Smith wasn't my first choice as Neville but in the movie I could see that he could pull off the roll really well. Though if this we're a true adaptation of the book I honestly do believe that this role is Oscar material and that he could have gotten an Oscar nod for best actor and possibly taken the award home.
sorry I feel like I'm seriously bitching way TOO much about this movie because of how disappointed I am.