I Am Legend (2008)-Eric Smith
I Am Legend (2008)
By Eric Smith
In order for a movie like I Am Legend to work, it has to be more than a one-man show (which ‘Legend’ basically is). It has to captivate the audience, draw them in, making them believe that this is a possibility of our future. Legend does that, and more, in this exhilarating suspense thriller.
The story opens in 2009, with a doctor (Emma Thompson) on TV, explaining to a news reporter that she has found a cure for cancer. Just by looking in her wide eyes, you know she’s not sure of something. Flash forward to three years later. New York City is a desolate ghost town (or in this case, city). Buildings are crumbling. Weeds sprout everywhere on the streets. Cars lay abandoned on the road. A research scientist for the military by the name of Robert Neville seems to be the only survivor. He may not be the only survivor on the planet, but he’s definitely the only one in New York. Apparently, the cure became a deadly virus and has ravaged throughout the world, killing off just about everybody. Those who did survive have been turned into flesh-eating zombies (are there any other kind?). Neville is immune to the virus. He lives in a house in Greenwich Village, where he works in his laboratory basement, trying to find a cure for the virus. Hoping some day to return the zombies to their normal human state. As non-perishable food becomes scarce, Neville succumbs to hunting down deer that run about through the city streets. If he can ever catch one, that is. At night, he rolls steel shutters over the doors and windows, hoping they won’t get in. The zombies are allergic to any kind of light. It’s almost like they have a bit of vampire in them. They come out at night and scavenge for food. Neville has basically been thrust back into the 19th Century. Only, instead of hunting on horseback, he hunts in a Ford Mustang (get it?).
Everyday, Neville sends out his distress call over AM radio with the hope that there are other survivors. An every day, he catalogues his daily events in a video diary. Neville isn’t completely alone, however. His only companion, Sam, a dog, is his sidekick. In order to stay sane, Neville talks to mannequins as he makes a daily routine of checking out movies at the local video store. Eventually, Neville meets a lady named Anna (Alice Braga), who is traveling with a young boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan). She saves Neville after a horde of zombies overtakes his vehicle. She explains to him that she believes that there is a survivor colony in Vermont.
Being the third adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel (it was filmed before in 1964 with Vincent Price as The Last Man on Earth, and again with Charlton Heston in 1971 as The Omega Man), this is definitely the best. The movie doesn’t excel in all departments, though. Most of the special effects aren’t that great. The images can be a little frightening, so it’s not recommended you take your young ones to see it. The film drags at some points, but manages to pick itself up. Smith does an incredible job, as always. In this case, he’s basically acting with no one, at least on the set. The movie makes good use of the constant flashbacks, playing them as recurring dreams (or nightmares?) that Neville has. Mark Protsoveich’s script stays true to Matheson’s original story, save for the ending. There’s even some humor thrown in, which includes sly nods to both genre fans (the Batman vs. Superman poster) and consumers (the $6.65 gas prices), which evens the playing table a bit. Director Francis Lawrence, whose last film credit was the utterly terrible Constantine, does an amazing job and paints a vivid image of what could be the future. This is essentially what would’ve happened had the Motaba virus in 1995’s "Outbreak" had carried throughout the country. And that, an all-too-realistic picture, is frightening enough.
Copyright C. 2008 Eric Smith
April 5th, 2008 at 4:49 am
This movie sound like it would keep me on the edge of my seat. The movie trailer does little for this movie. I was not interested in seeing legend until I read your review. I will definatley go see this movie. Good job Eric