Entertaining but somewhat souless

Rating: 7/10 (3 March 2011)

An apocalyptic terror-mutant movie that re-adapts Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, and the science-fiction classic film of the 70s "Omega Man".
The movie tells the story of the destruction of human kind by a virus, and the survival of just a few humans, some of them immune and some others mutated by the virus. Colonel Neville, lives and works alone in Manhattan with his dog Samantha, trying to find other humans, alone, lonely and with bouts of mental disturbance.
The reconstruction of an apocalyptic Manhattan is realistic, wild, sad and beautiful at the same time. The running of wild deer and lions are just that something that completes the transformation of the city into a wild space, still not the wilderness we expect from apocalyptic dark movies. That's great, not going mainstream to depict something that has been depicted visually in a certain way gazillion times. The empty wild city of "I am legend" is eerie despite the sunshine and the clarity. There is uncertainty, familiarity, mystery, abandonment, and desolation. It really sets the mood of the movie and makes everything it happens believable. In fact, I would say that, in this movie, the setting is another actor.
The story of the virus apocalypse and its effects on human kind are simply told, but are well depicted and narrated. Despite the fact that most of movie is just Will Smith and the dog, we can praise the script to give mystery, intensity and interest to the movie.
Will Smith is very good in his role, playing alone most of the time, with great dramatic intensity. He shows that when a script demands some seriousness, he stands to the challenge. His problem is that, most of the time, he chooses roles that just showcase his own self not the actor he can be. This is not the case here, as Smith is physically and mentally transformed, and plays well the lonely human-contact longing Neville in a desert Manhattan.
There are special effects in the movie, but they are well integrated, and what is spectacular is not the effects but what happens in the story. The bunch of mutants are really scary and almost human.
I found that the time frame was not believable. I mean, that much urban destruction in just a few years? Or things that are not explained: How does Ann know that there is a colony of survivors, where it is, etc. if she keeps moving? Or, when Anna and the boy went to wait for Neville at the docks, and he did not appear, why they did not go hiding to protect themselves from the mutants? They were just there, at the right moment in the middle of the night. How did Neville know the percentage of immune, mutants and deceased? This, just to mention a few details.
The animation shorts, which complement the story (in the DVD) are quite interesting as give us glimpses of what might happened in another places of the world, and in different circumstances, when the virus spread. Especially good is the story set in India, which is very gore and truly terrorific, and, I confess, I had difficulties watching. They are much terrifying that the movie.
There was an alternate ending for the movie, which I would much preferred (at least for what I've read), but is not the one finally chosen, which I found to be done in a hurry.