very worth seeing

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2008)

I was never able to sit through Omega Man but I did enjoy The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price. I was really anticipating I Am Legend - I knew Will Smith would do a great job and he did. He was very convincing as a man clinging to his sanity by his fingernails. The scenes of him with the mannequins in the video store were sad, funny and a little scary. Overall the movie was very enjoyable mostly because of Smith. The cgi effects, creatures and cinematography made the movie even more fun. I read Mattheson's book before I saw I Am Legend and I have to say the movie is much better. The book is good in parts as Mattheson spends a great deal of time on aspects of the story he seemed to enjoy but then would stop when he seemed to tire of what he was writing about. The story is great, but leaves much to be desired and lots of room for improvement. I think this is why it has been made into so many movies. Here be spoilers** In the book Neville lusts for the female vampires who come to his house every night. I thought it was clever of the makers of this movie to focus this aspect of Neville's frustration and loneliness to the mannequins instead of the vampires. I also enjoyed Neville's relationship with Sam. In the book Mattheson spends a lot of time describing how Neville attempted to entice a stray over days and weeks before finally forcing the dog into his house. The next paragraph reads - the dog died within a weak. WTF!!!! Anyway, I enjoyed the movie and highly recommend it - the book too honestly. It's a little more realistic as to how someone would behave if left alone to their own devices. Neville of the novel drinks and smokes excessively - I know I would too.