An "I Am Legend..." Not THE "I Am Legend"

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2007)

I finished watching this movie at about midnight and was neither pleasantly surprised or disappointed. My overall verdict on the movie: 8/10.
From the get-go, the viewer has to get past the stigma of the "I Am Legend" novel written by Robert Matheson back in the 1950s. While the movie borrows on the apocalyptic idea, the movie was not created to be a recreation of the original novel. Once that is understood and accepted, then the movie can be enjoyed.
The premise of the movie was unveiled in a very choppy fashion; as if the movie was pushed to the market before all of the movie elements were completed. While the back-story is touched upon briefly, I would have liked to see how things developed to where they developed and why it is Smith's character came to be alone. Naturally, I expected the plot to disclose why Smith's character kept exclaiming, "Nothing went as planned." It didn't. Honestly, it didn't quite matter. Everything else was relatively believable.
I have heard the ending was terrible; to me it's interpretation. I feel the ending was made that way to encompass a key theme of the movie, light in the dark.
The acting, the cinematography, the lighting and the portrayal of all characters made the movie entertaining and enjoyable. I rated the movie with 8 stars and not 10 for multiple reasons, but two primary reasons follow: For the non-human characters, there was too much personification. Albeit entertaining, but seemingly unnecessary. I guess that was the only way to wrap up the movie.
About the dog's death, it seemed that idea was forcibly written as if the writers said, "Oh, we have to have the dog die, we just have to. Let's see if anybody can come up with a good enough reason that the public can bite into. You, intern? Give me an idea." You can tell I was unhappy with that bit.
Overall, I hope you enjoy it for its interpreted (perhaps intended) purpose. Thanks for reading!