I Am Disappointed

Rating: 7/10 (27 January 2008)

Ever wondered what it would be like to be the last man left on Earth? To be totally alone and isolated, what would you do? How would you survive? These themes are tackled in Francis Lawrence's distressingly bleak version of Richard Matheson's 1954 cult novel, also called 'I Am Legend'. The story begins with news reports featuring a Dr Krippen, (an uncredited cameo by Emma Thompson) who claims to have cured cancer by genetically engineering the Measles virus. It then transpires that there is a mutation to this 'cure' which becomes airborne and decimates mankind to the point, where by 2012, one man only remains in New York City. Dr. Robert Neville, (Will Smith) is the only survivor from the outbreak, seemingly immune to the disease, whilst the rest of the species has mutated into the sunlight-fearing 'The Infected'. By day he roams the post-apocalyptic New York streets with only his pet German Shepherd, Samantha to keep him company. By night, is a different story, as he holes up in his apartment whilst the Infected come out and claim the night with blood-curdling screams and howling filtering into Neville's fortified home.
Whilst Neville has long since given up any chance of finding fellow survivors, he strive to use his own immunity to come up with a cure, first, experimenting on animals before capturing a Dark-Seeker to test his vaccine. However, his dreams are eventually answered when Anna (Alice Braga) and her child Ethan (Charlie Tahan) arrive. This restores his faith but when Alice begins talk of escaping the city for a survivor's colony, his fragile state of mind finally explodes. Meanwhile, having tracked down the location of the survivors hiding place, the Infected mount a vicious attack on the barricaded penthouse which results in a final stand with the potential to decide the fate of the human race. The astounding shots of a empty New York City and especially, an overgrown and abandoned Times Square are hauntingly stunning in the same way Danny Boyle's '28 Days' Later' shocked the system with a deserted London. The panoramic views of the scenery allows the story to be fully comprehended as the scene of tranquillity conflicts perfectly with the chaos that follows once the sun sets.
Will Smith really flexs his acting muscles in I Am Legend despite sharing the screen with nothing but a dog, mannequins and the CGI animated Infected for most of the movie. His portrayal of the effects of three years of seclusion leading to the growing insanity in Neville as he increasingly becomes more deluded and paranoid. The arrival of the survivors only serves to drive him even crazier until the finale when he realises what he must do. The beauty of Robert Neville's seclusion is that via the use of Samantha and the mannequins in the record stores, Smith is able to interact with them to create the illusion of Robert Neville, the companion, as well as Robert Neville, the loner. It is in fact reminiscent of Tom Hanks' role in Castaway with the role of the mannequin equal to the role of the football in that film. The CGI dark-seekers are shocking in both appearance and sound. The sounds they make whilst Neville is hiding in his bathtub must surely be amongst the most blood-curdling in horror history. The only criticism of them is that they inexplicably display extreme amounts of strength and speed for no other reason to raise the shock factor. The major flaw of this film is the somewhat lopsided structure. For almost an hour Will Smith is living his life of isolation and sliding towards insanity, if not teeing off from a fighter jet, he's flirting with the female mannequins at the record store. Then tacked onto the final 30 minutes, there's the arrival of Neville's fellow survivors and the final confrontation which feels unbelievably rushed.