*** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

*** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

Sigh. No spoilers, but I saw the sneak peek of "I Am Legend" last night and, whereas it's definitely worth seeing, if you're a fan of the original story you will be perplexed and disappointed.

To answer an earlier question, the title "I Am Legend" from the story refers to Neville realizing his notorious status among the infected vampires he stakes by day and hides from by night. It's the twist of realizing that when the world is now populated by monsters and you're the last man alive, perhaps YOU'RE NOW THE MONSTER.

Anyway, the movie doesn't seem to get that; looks like it uses the same mediocre monster cgi as "I, Robot," and has a peculiar obsession with Bob Marley and Shrek (Will Smith obsessions?) that don't add a whole lot to the narrative. If they showed Smith somehow identifying with Shrek the Ogre, maybe that would have suggested they got the point of the story.

I hope Richard Matheson cashes a big fat check, he deserves it, but he also deserved to pen the final draft on this and put his great allegorical story to bed for the last time.

*** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

I caught it last night in Boston. I thought it was a solid popcorn flick. Smith was really good as Neville and I thought the filmmakers did a great job creating a deserted NYC. Is it perfect? Hell, no. The religious aspect is laid on a bit thick in the third act and I kind of missed having a lead bad guy audiences could somewhat latch onto (the main mutant is no Mathias). But overall, this was a well-made variation on Matheson's story, despite the fact that HackMaster Flash Akiva Goldsman had a hand in bringing it to the screen.

I'd give it three out of four stars.

Re: *** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

If I was to use one word to describe this film, that word would be "bland".

I'm not sure people really want to see Will Smith as Robert Neville, a tortured soul with the weight of the world on his shoulders. I don't think he pulls off the role in the acting department, a role that seemed a little too underwritten given the gravity of his situation. I think I wanted to see a little more depth in the character, and it just doesn't quite find the right emotional beats as a foundation for the character, but I kind of blame that on the director, for not overcoming the screenplay.

I'm actually surprised that Neville survived as long as he did (up to the point that the film begins, as it would take eternal vigilance to keep safe in his environment.

The film opens up decently, but gets progressively worse as it loses steam, and dramatic heft. The 3rd act is pretty poorly written, like the writers had a word limit on the dialogue or something.

Oh, and then I find out Akiva Goldsman had a hand in producing this film, so most of the deficiencies of the film made more sense to me afterwards. I really need to learn not to see his films because he seldom is involved in films that appeal to my cinematic sensibilties.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

Re: *** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

Going into "I am Legend" all I knew was it was a set in the not too distance future and Wil Smith was the last human alive. And he's got a dog. I didn't know it was based on an earlier story. I'd heard it was remake of "The Omega Man". But I'd avoided nearly all previews and went in as unassuming as possible.

"I am Legend" is a survival horror movie. It was at the threshold of what I find enjoyable for tense, monsters-in-the-dark anxiety. It exceeded my wife's tolerance. It's not gory; it's fear for your life, the bogeyman is going to get you.

The narrative was tight. A few minutes intro set the stage, and the story leapt straight to the part where six billion people have died, and Wil Smith, and his dog, are all that's left, living in a tony townhome in NY. He drives around town in a Ford Mustang, hunting stag with an assault rifle
until his wristwatch beeps. Then he goes home, closes steel shutters over the windows, and goes to sleep. With his dog.

The next day, we get some flashbacks, some more details on the stag, the Mustang, the home. And the dog. Sam. The dog's name is Sam.

Sam is the only dog alive in the world. And she's Wil's sole companion.

That's the fun part. The scary part is when we learn about the monsters in the dark that Wil must contend with. He isn't just surviving, hoping to find someone else in the world. He also has to get home before dark, before the monsters in the closet come out to play.

A friend described the move as a Vampire movie. It's pretty accurate. I enjoyed it. It scared me a good deal. The latter third might be thought wooly headed by some (my wife), but I didn't mind; I've seen worse.

It has some of the typical super-hero silliness. Monsters of erratic capability; people who get hurt, yet seem indestructible. And a fundamentally implausible conceit: an Army Colonel living in what has to be a milliion dollar mansion in NYC. Oh, and an impossible conceit for what happened to humanity.

If you like grip-the-seat action, scary movies, go see this. Smith deserves an Oscar nom for holding the screen for an hour. But if you're not into getting scared for fun, skip it.

Re: *** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

Not a lot to add to a review. I read the story for the first time a month ago, though I knew the film was somewhat different. And it is.

Taken as it's own, the movie is decent. It's fairly well-staged, and has a few decent set-pieces. It only really comes alive when Will Smith is doing his thing. The role is not Oscar-worthy...but the performance is. I wish the script had been a bit stronger for the lead actor.

I also enjoyed the desolate NYC thing going for a while.

And it's not much more than that. About mid-way through, there is a fairly smart "turnabout is fair play" sequence, which hints at something much more, but then goes nowhere after that.

Again, it's decent film, nothing more. Without Will Smith's performance, though, I probably would be much less tolerant of it.

7/10,
Chuck

Re: *** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

On the positive side, I thought Will Smith was VERY good, and there were some touching emotional moments. He was quite believable as the last man left alive on Earth. The chilling effect of a desolate New York City was nicely realized. I liked the strong scenes featuring Smith's dog, who is his only companion.

On the negative side, the film comes crashing down like lead every time we are subjected to the fake-looking night monsters on the prowl. There's that awful and overused modern day trend of needlessly depending on CG renderings. Why is it considered necessary to have these cartoon-like ravenous creatures zipping and zooming and ricocheting all about at lightning speed, loudly roaring with their extra-wide mouthes agape a la Stephen Sommers' MUMMY? This is a damn shame because it trashed what was otherwise shaping up to be a fine film indeed. Also missing from the film is a strong sense of motivation. Both THE LAST MAN ON EARTH as well as THE OMEGA MAN each had that ingredient.

Re: *** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

Saw this yesterday. I liked the set-up, but as many have pointed out, the last third of the movie is a huge let down. The zombies (or "the infected" as the movie calls them) only really work in the shadow and darkness. When you see them in the lighter scenes, they're just CGI right out of video game. Also, it strains credibility that the zombies were so mindless yet were able to set a trap as elaborate as the one they did with his mannequin friend outside, and so on.

If the movie inspires anyone to read the original work, they'll be pleasantly surprised.

Re: *** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

This goes into my "could have been great" movie stack. I enjoyed Will Smith's portrayal of Neville. I though the first half or two thirds were pretty good.

The tacked-on ending was a let down and I think Smith's part was underwritten, as many have mentioned already.

The CGI monsters bothered me. The darkseekers blatantly rip off 28 Days Later and that's unforgivable.

I think they should have stuck with vampires and they should have done more with the "Neville as Legend" aspect.

**/****

Re: *** Official I AM LEGEND Review Thread

It was pretty good up until around the mannequin part. As Chuck says, nothing was ever really done with the revelation that these creatures could be devious. I guess we're suppose to realize the glass basher was the one who set the trap, but it didn't really matter.

I could have done without the flashbacks entirely. The story should have stayed in the moment. We got enough of the causes from the opening sequence and a few other clues, and the same could have been done for the fate of his family.

The ending showed why they should have just stuck with the book. When these movies come out, I'm tired of hearing from the creative people that the latest adaptation is sticking close to the source material, and it never does. Same is true of Casino Royale, which was a much better movie than Legend. The central act of that film was reasonably close to the book, but with bookends that were all new. They tended to flesh out the existing story rather than subvert it, though. Same can't be said for Legend.

Decent. Worth watching. But, the quest for the perfect adaptation of I Am Legend continues.