Directed by:
Francis LawrenceCinematography:
Andrew LesnieComposer:
James Newton HowardCast:
Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith, Darrell Foster, April Grace, Dash Mihok, Steve Cirbus, Emma Thompson (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
The last man on earth is not alone. Will Smith plays that lone survivor in I Am Legend, the action epic fusing heart-pounding excitement with a mind-blowing vision of a desolated Manhattan. Somehow immune to an unstoppable, incurable virus, military virologist Robert Neville (Smith) is now the last human survivor in New York City and maybe the world. Mutant plague victims lurk in the shadows... watching Neville’s every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find an antidote using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time. (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (13)
The first half is excellent, with a very good portrayal of a depopulated New York, Will Smith is brilliant and we don’t get to see much of the infected. But in the second half, when they start showing up more often and in their full glory, the quality declines because their CGI look is really not good. Also, the screenwriter deserves to be punched in the face for that ending. The rating is between 3 and 4 stars.
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A wasted opportunity that Francis Lawrence, Will Smith, the almost omnipresent atmosphere and primarily the opening thirty minutes mange to save by the skin of their teeth. It’s just that after that it has nothing more to offer. The befuddled result isn’t due to the absence of action or the somewhat laughable monsters. The blame falls on the screenwriters’ heads. I will ignore that the only thing that remained of the book is the initial idea, but nobody try to tell me that the screenplay for the hundred minutes of running time was more than three pages long. Shame on them if they wanted to get paid for it too. When nothing at all happens, not even the undeniable charisma of Will Smith can do much to save things. What makes it even worse is the utterly ridiculous ending (the “alternative", faithful to the spirit of the book makes the movie much better). A blockbuster that isn’t a popcorn and where you can hear the thoughts of (not only) Bob Marley. That’s a big plus. But the fact that in the end this is just an average watch, is no big plus at all.
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In an amazing opening that reminds us that Lawrence is simply talented, you don't even think that a monumental betrayal is about to happen. The director is innocent in this because having to make something out of Akiva Goldsman's scripted nothingness is unenviable. It does give a few scenes a proper edge, and Will Smith's charisma works quite well, even if he’s not exactly comfortable in the dramatic scenes. However, the rest of it is a drawn-out boring 100 minutes. This was supposed to be a two-and-a-half-hour drama with proper action and fancy special effects, not a big-budget theatrical play with no balls. Someone forgot how to work with dramaturgy and let the creators of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and family soap opera onto the same set. This year, no film deserves the label of disappointment more than this one.
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Francis Lawrence confirms his reputation as a versatile director, but unlike with Constantine, his higher budget also meant a noticeably lower quality screenplay. Mainly because of it, the excellent action and grand yet suffocating atmosphere are somewhat wasted. Some compromise is missing here at least. The line between drama and sci-fi spectacle is very winding here, confusing the viewer with transitions from bombastic yet "only" personal scenes to occasionally intimately portrayed fights. The biggest betrayal of the story is ultimately the whole theme. It mixes 28 Days Later, The Day of the Triffids, Planet of the Apes, and other battles of individuals against a mass of enemies, but the trailer promised much more than that. A satisfying conclusion and some ideological depth were sought in vain here.
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Atmospherically, it's an excellently executed piece of work, which, despite several undeniable virtues and innovations, unfortunately doesn't quite work. The depopulated New York is captivating, but the cause of that smacks of sloppy work and is very sketchy. The atmosphere is gripping, just like the sound effects with outdoor noises and echoes throughout the night. The villains on the other hand, are so awkward. They look very digital, meditating in an abandoned house without reacting to light for a moment, then behaving like a hungry pack with a brain the size of a pea, and in a moment, the leader (WTF?) throws orders and gestures cheerfully and without inhibitions. We actually learn absolutely nothing about their intelligence, strength, and way of life. Everything revolves only around the attempt to save and the abandoned Will Smith, who is excellent. The ending is predictably predictable and it remains to be stated that I Am Legend will not be a legend.
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