Dir. Francis Lawrence, US, 2007, 101 mins
Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Review by Johnny Messias
I am Legend has been such a long time coming that it was originally set up for Arnold Schwarzenegger, during his Total Recall heyday. Based on Richard Matheson’s influential 1954 novel, which has inspired movies twice before — The Last Man on Earth (1964) and The Omega Man (1971) — this new version has come after more than a decade of development hell but the final casting of the former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is good news for audiences. Will Smith plays Robert Neville, a man in acute existential crisis.
98 percent of the world’s population have been wiped out after a genetically engineered miracle cure mutates into an apocalyptic virus. Wearing the lab coat of implausibility, Neville is a brilliant military virologist who carries a natural immunity in his own blood. As the trailer reveals, he lives in New York after the human population has gone. There is just him and his faithful dog, Sam and....well, the poster tells you he is not alone but let’s not divulge any more here.
What work really well are scenes showing Neville dealing with this terribly precarious situation; where one mistake could be his last. He stays sane by having alarms go off at key moments during the day and marking off the parts of town he has visited with military precision. Some scenes are reminiscent of Tom Hanks dealing with the solitude in Castaway — handled well by the screenwriters and nicely played by Smith, who is better than he’s allowed to be in most of his star vehicles. Of course, he does have his dog Sam with him for company, in one of the best examples you’ll see, on screen, of the bond between a man and his dog. The petrified City itself is an eerie character too, with abandoned cars everywhere, rampant vegetation in Times Square, and herds of Deer running down Fifth Avenue.
By the time the plot really kicks in, you will be fully engaged in Neville’s world and the results are nail-biting. Suffice to say, stunt work, special effects and a dark imagination combine to give I am Legend real Sci-Fi oomph. Director Francis Lawrence handles the lighting and camera work as assuredly as he marshals his leading man, this being only his second film after his promising debut, Constantine. Yes, it is a bit hokey at times, and it has had some of its thunder stolen by thek 28 Days/Weeks Later movies, but this is a superior blockbuster; gripping and intelligent. Ideal for viewing on Boxing Day or during the holidays.
|
