Mysterious and enjoyable

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2007)

I am so glad this movie was not two and half hours to three hours long (although it was about 15 minutes/4 scenes short IMHO) - this is actually a great watch - albeit a little contrived at the end. Will Smith is one of the few actors who could have pulled off this type of action and drama without seeming too - Will Smith (or insert actor's name here) - at the time. I really enjoyed the camera shots and seamless CGI - most of the time it felt like hand held cameras and natural lighting - very cool. NYC is amazingly transformed into oblivion. Kudos. And in general, the affect on Smith's character of being under constant stress (both physically and mentally) is poignant.
I must admit though, that the story while well told, does not really have the legendary status that it could have had - or rather that the story never seemed to have a start or finish. For a character driven movie, one really needed a few of the characters to have more - scenes. I just saw some missed moments and revelations, hopefully there is a director's cut somewhere that maybe has a few extra scenes? All in all though, I loved this movie - it felt like faithful sci-fi thriller a la old school movies such as "The Thing" or any other 1950's 60's sci-fi.
Definitely check this movie out. Although I don't think it would happen - I would love to see a sequel to this. Maybe it should have been 3 hours long!
UPDATED 12/31/2008 - Well, I was right, there is an "alternate" version of this on the DVD, and I ask myself - why in the heck did they release the original? The alternate made more sense, brought the characters home - it was really good!