Review of I Am Legend (2007) by David B — 12 Jun 2013

Oh, what this movie could have been. Will Smith, one of my top 5 favorite actors, is his usual self in much of this apocalyptic world, and the first half of the movie is sometimes funny, sometimes heart-pounding, sometimes fascinating, and sometimes sterile in a good way. With a dog as his only companion, Neville fights to survive and develop a cure for the human race that is already all but extinct due to a disease that he is for some unknown reason immune to, and the only other survivors he encounters are infected and nothing more than 28 Weeks Later style zombies who are only staived off by UV rays that burn their skin. The visuals are the only flaw here, as even though the environment is masterfully done, the infected are rather poorly animated to the point where they'd be about average ten years ago. It really takes away from what would otherwise be thrilling situations, and it's confusing why they didn't put in the same amount of effort to animate these former humans that he's trying to cure as it makes them less human and they draw less sympathy from the audience who really only want them cured so Neville can live a better life. But this portion of the film is nicely balanced and very well done. However, after a couple of significant events, the film takes an unfortunate turn and becomes extremely disappointing. A theme of faith is brought up that is never sufficiently explored, and everything starts happening so quickly that characters are not adequately developed and everything becomes predictable. The finale continues this with a revelation Neville has ***SPOILER ALERT*** when he finally finds the cure ***SPOILER ENDING*** because you wonder why something so obvious was never explored until this scene. Oh yeah, because the writers needed a good ending. Well good job writers, it was predictable and fell completely flat, spoiling a movie that had so much potential. It's still enjoyable enough on the merits of the first portion alone, including a particularly emotional scene at the end of the good part. My suggestion would be to watch this and turn it off right when the good part ends. Pretend Neville died or something. Definitely one of Will Smith's worst, and it's shame.

3 stars: Enjoyable, but unremarkable.