Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Charlie Tahan
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Rating: 3/5
Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a military scientist and possibly the last human survivor after a cure for cancer turned into a deadly virus.
The virus killed most of the world's population when it became airbourne but turned as small number of humans into a zombie like state allergic to sunlight.
It's 2012 and Neville has been living with his dog Sam in a deserted New York for the last three years.
Everyday he roams the city looking for food, visiting the video store and sending out radio transmissions to see if anyone else is still alive.But Neville isn't completely alone the night belongs to the once human 'infecteds'.
This is the third adaptation of Richard Matheson's apocalypse novel following The Last Man on Earth in 1964 and The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston, just seven years later.
The deserted streets of Manhattan create an eerie backdrop with frequent bursts of action and gun fire to shatter the quiet.
The first hour of the movie is definitely it strongest as Neville struggles with his loneliness as we as fighting to discover a cure for this man made virus that was once hailed as success.
I Am Legend is a futuristic zombie thriller intertwined with a tale of survival.
Director Francis Lawrence (Constantine) creates tension, suspense effectively generating some truly jump out of your seat moments, in particular when Neville is searching for Sam in a deserted warehouse and the audience are all too aware that the infected are not far away.
However the film loses it's way when it goes dark we finally get to see our hero's foe and really, to be blunt, they are pale skinny hairless people.
Another major issue is they are completely CGI, and it's poor CGI, they don't create fear or appear threatening they are like cartoon villains which on a $100 million budget is very disappointing.
The final act sees the film become a run of the mill chase horror movie squandering the build up of tension and feeling of desolation that was built up at the beginning.
Smith gives a great performance as the tormented Neville who stayed behind in New York in an attempt to reverse what has happened. His charisma carries the movie despite him spending most of the movie talking to himself or the dog.
The German Shepard by the way is an absolute gem.
This is not a poor film by any stretch of the imagination the concept of a human created virus is not an outlandish idea and Will Smith's one man show is nailed almost to perfection.
While the sun shines Lawrence creates a great deal of unease and tension. But it's the sight of the CGI driven villain that really lets the side down.
Femalefirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Will Smith I Am Legend