durable story given good modern treatment here

Rating: Null/10 (15 December 2007)

This is, as many fans of the Richard Matheson novel should know, the third version of I Am Legend. I suspect it to be the caliber of The Omega Man and a good translation of the novel in the guise of a 2007 society going to waste because of a lethal virus.
Francis Lawrence's picture has a great introduction, completely varying every NYC precedent you could imagine. It kicks off the story of Robert Neville, the scientist who believed he could cure a botched cancer antidote that became the "KV" virus of the film. Like Price and Heston, he fights off the diseased nocturnally and researches or tries to solve his problem when he has time during the day.
Within the open-ended plot structure are many vignettes, some of which are less interesting than others. I think in terms of character development Neville goes more and more insane trying to find a cure towards the end, which builds the theme of fate because he only really saves every last normal human on Earth in a coincidental moment of realization.
This is rather impressive compared to Constantine, the other Francis Lawrence film but the main weakness is the zombie element--the monsters of the novel appear to have mutated into the creatures of the 28... films and other recent movies with hyperactive night creatures such as these. They don't have any character or anything unique about them, which works for the theme of de-evolution, but the design could have been more bizarre or original.
In terms of cinematic grammar the film is well-shot, but the second unit is kind if blurry due to the CGI used for animals/creatures.
It is enough to say that Will Smith is great and carries the movie like the true movie-star he is, with charisma and conviction in a difficult role that he could not have handled earlier on--it shows how much he has grown as an actor.
Despite all of this the film is most interesting because of its themes and subtle integration of existential or religious complexes within humanity. It is also a generally compelling story of unlikely survival and the element in humans as a whole that lets us surpass the evil we create.