Too Depressing a Story

Rating: 6/10 (25 March 2008)

Doctor/Scientist Robert Neville (Smith) in New York City is a lone survivor of an escaped man-made virus that killed most of the earth's population and turned many into mutants and he is determined to find a way to reverse the trend. He is immune to the virus.
This movie is one of the reasons I do not watch horror movies. I knew it wouldn't be so bad, but it did have some moments. Will Smith is a terrific actor and he provided a believable scenario of a man fighting to find a cure among the mutants who constantly watch him. His scenes with Samantha provided the levity we needed to go further into this very depressing story. I guess somewhere at some time, someone would make this kind of a movie. Yea! Let's all hear it for. When Hollywood wants to make a depressing movie it really knows how to do it.
Something I didn't understand. Neville has all this electronic equipment yet he has no contact with anyone outside NYC? None. One would think that they would be calling in to see how things are progressing with the cure. No contact at all so he talks to Samantha because he believes there is no one out there so he doesn't bother and doesn't' try. He believes he is alone.
Also, we see many dead people in the last act they will ever commit. Some are standing, some bent over. You would think the ones standing or bent over would let gravity have it's way. But, no. They are now like statues. Very spooky.
Oh, in flashbacks, when Samantha was a puppy, she was of a different coloring than the adult Samantha. I guess they couldn't find the right puppy. Probably thought we wouldn't notice. HA!
So the movie is just Neville working on a cure in his lab and escaping from the mutants from time to time until Anna (Braga) comes on the scene. However, good action scenes keep you riveted to your seat and you keep hoping this will all turn out good.
The CGI was okay, the stunts were good, the dialogue was good, the cinematography was excellent, but it was all too depressing to have any real entertainment value for me.
Violence: Yes Sex: No Nudity: No Language No