Jumps high... breaks its ankle

Rating: 6/10 (18 December 2007)

Well, for starters, I have not read the original story, though I've heard this film has more differences than similaritiesI will sidestep that particular topic. So... 'I Am Legend' left me with a lot of general good feelings, such as Will Smith's careful/substantial performance, the well crafted atmosphere of a depopulated New York City, and great empathy with its characters. For me, the latter is the most important success, and seems to be one of the hardest for mainstream Hollywood to achieve nowadays. If I can care about the individuals portrayed in a movie then I am already on board, ready to forgive many a surrounding flaw. What took the wind out of my sails here, though, was the lack of a satisfying middle portion, and a flat, trite ending (and, in a small way, the lackluster CGI[ if you want to see CGI that tramples the competition, check out South Korean horror flick "The Host"]). Not only was 'I Am Legend' unexpectedly short, it was basically 60 minutes of prologue followed by 5-10 minutes of character interaction, then 15 minutes of action that terminates in an "I can't believe that's it" moment. Then comes the speechy epilogue that blandly tries to reinforce what a hero is Will Smith's dr/scientist/soldier character. At this point the audience at my showing, who had laughed and gasped and cheered for the film for a good 80 minutes, erupted into a chorus of boos... Myself, I still find more to like here than dislike, but just barely.