Highly Entertaining, Yet Remains Untrue to the Book

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2007)

I saw this last night and was hoping for something with a little more depth. Many other reviews of this film have taken it upon themselves to provide you with an unnecessary plot synopsis so I shall not be including one here.
If anyone has read Matheson's book they will instantly notice quite extreme deviations from what is in the original work and what is shown in the film. One of many examples would be the ending, - I will not be including any spoilers - which is drastically different to the point where they feel like two different stories.
Another deviation is Neville's dog "Sam" who although an endearing character and one you will find yourself getting attached to, was not included in the book.
The dependency on CGI made the film look a little bit too much like iRobot to me and completely shattered my expectation of the film.
The inclusion of the dog was a bad choice in my opinion as one of the main focuses within the book was Neville's painful solace and seclusion from society, which swiftly drives him mad. Although they capture this to some extent, the arrival of other characters and the presence of the dog leaves this feeling a little marred.
Those who have read the book will notice characters from the book performing actions that simply are not there. This makes it very confusing for someone who has read the book and is expecting one ending, to then see another ending using the same characters in completely different ways.
With all that said, it's still a highly entertaining film, and Will Smith does a very convincing and moving performance as Neville. It's very feel good at the end, and that's my problem! I am Legend was never meant to be feel good, it was meant to be tragic, a struggle, and one we have to watch the hero lose. The film, although extremely entertaining and a good rendition of action/sci-fi horror, is still in no way true to the book.
Great fun to watch, but not what I was expecting.