No depth

Rating: 6/10 (30 December 2007)

As someone old enough to have seen the original version of this movie (Omega Man) I was a little disappointed.
The special effects were allowed to overcome the plot and the story, but this has become the norm for Hollywood. The computer generated dogs and even the human mutants were styled more along the line of non-humans and even had a somewhat alien essence to them. They were portrayed more as monsters rather than as human victims.
There was glimpse of what would have been a interesting relationship between Will Smiths character and the mutant leader, but just as it was starting to develop the movie abandoned it.
The relationship between Dr. Neville and the woman and boy he meet is also never developed, or even real. He meets the first non-mutant people for the first time in three years, and yet he's casual and even aloof. He basically treats them like you do the clerk at 7-11. The relationship between Will Smith and this woman does start to develop later on, but once again the movie departs from it for more computer generated battle scenes.
I did like Will Smiths portrayal. I now have a new found respect for him as an actor, and he reveals a depth and a new level of his abilities. If it wasn't for his skills this movie wouldn't even be worth renting, but because of him it is worth seeing.