I am Legend
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Will Smith
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Parental Notes: Most teens and preteens should be fine — this is a suspenseful movie and youngsters who are already afraid of dark places may find it too intense, but it is not terribly graphic.
“I am Legend” is the third adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel of the same title, but it’s very losely based on the text. Matheson’s bacteria-laden vampires have been replaced with the Infected, “Resident Evil” style quasi-zombies who have succumbed to an engineered virus meant to cure cancer.
The film is strongest in its opening hour or so. We meet Robert Neville (Will Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness”), the last uninfected man in New York — and, as far as he knows, the world. Through long sequences of his daily life and flashbacks to the chaos immediately following the infection’s escape from the lab, we get to know him and his dog, Sam. We learn that he can only go out during the day, because at night the Infected come out, and they are too strong and fast and great in numbers for him to defend himself. We follow him through the ruined city, its weed-infested streets and slowly decaying skyscrapers an eerie backdrop. The city is a masterpiece of set design, from the skyline, some of its buildings still shrouded in fraying quarantine wrap, to the places Neville searches for supplies, their walls covered with personal articles and newspaper clippings from the disaster.
Robert is working on a cure — before the virus, he was an Army scientist entrusted with finding a way to contain the spread, and even now that it is too late, he keeps working with single-minded purpose. He also rents DVDs from a store he has populated with mannequins, some of whom he talks to. He’s still trying to get up the courage to talk to the attractive lady mannequin in the adult films section of the store. Robert, you see, is not doing too well after three years having nobody but his dog for companionship.
Smith is a solid actor, and he is at his best in the scenes by himself, talking to his dog, hunting deer in the streets of Manhattan, barracading his house at night to keep out the Infected, and sleeping curled up in the bathtub with his gun and his dog. The first half or so of the film is a wonderful character piece, examining the way that a brilliant man might fray around the edges when dealing with this kind of horror.
The second half of the film becomes a bit more predictable, and full of holes, as a lovely young woman with a boy in tow appears — how she got onto the island, its bridges blown out by the military, is never explained. There are indications that the Infected are developing a sort of animal cunning, but they are never examined. There’s plenty of fighting the CGI monsters, and the requisite Hollywood ending, complete with synchronistic symbolism and a divine Plan. It’s a disappointing finale to the promising beginning.
Overall, “I Am Legend” is a decent Hollywood horror/sci-fi movie. It’s not great, but fans of Will Smith or of zombie films shouldn’t miss it. Those who demand attention to detail in a script and not just in set decoration will want to give it a pass.