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US Army virologist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Will Smith) is the last living man in New York, and maybe the world, after a genetically altered virus – intended as a cure for cancer – has mutated and killed 90% of the world’s population, and has turned another 9% into a kind of rabid vampire-zombies (remote cousins of the zombies out of 28 Days Later, obviously) who have killed most of the remaining 1% of immune people.
By day, Neville exercises to keep fit, hunts for food and DVD’s, and works in his laboratory on a cure for the virus. He broadcasts a recorded message and asks other survivors to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport where he waits every day – since three years – in vain. By night, he hides from the infected who have developed an intolerance for UV-light just like the mythologic vampires and hide in dark places during daylight and roam the city by night.
Neville is on the brink of breakdown, his dog Sam, a collection of mannequins in the DVD store and his work in the laboratory the only things between his sanity and madness.

I Am Legend is the chance for an actor to shine – playing The Last Man On Earth means the lead actor is in almost any single scene and has both the opportunity and responsibility to carry the whole film alone. And Will smith (rather surprisingly) accomplishes a good job – no grimaces, no falling back on his The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air-persona, he really convinces as the last survivor. And supporting him is the deserted city of New York, beautifully photographed and a character in it’s own right with it’s empty streets, sprouting vegetation and wildlife recapturing the city. That’s New York and Will Smith by day.
But then there are the nights, and when the sun sets and darkness creeps over the city, the infected rise – and the movie’s appeal drops. The “zombies” are CGI-creatures running through the night and shrieking like a herd of badly animated Gallimimus out of Jurassic Park, the other survivors who turn up later (Alice Braga and Charlie Tahan) don’t help either, and the syrupy ending is just the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.
A wasted opportunity, then, and a waste of Will Smith’s acting bravura of the first half of the film.

I Am Legend movie trailer

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 4:38 pm and is filed under 2-star-movies, 3-star-movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.