Real Review of I AM LEGEND

I am Legend

PLOT:

It is the year 2012. In the ruins of New York city. Robert Neville who is a military scientist who is the lone survivor of a biochemical disease which was supposed to cure cancer 3 years previous. With only blood thirsty zombies as his neighbors and his trusty dog, Samantha, Robert is trying to discover a cure for this disease and to find out any other people who might have also survived. Written by John Wiggins

After the outbreak of a lethal virus in 2009, in 2012 U.S. Army virologist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville is left as the last healthy human along with his trusty dog in New York City and possibly the entire world. For three years, Neville is trying to discover a cure for this disease and to find out if any other people might have also survived. But most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what The Infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time. Written by Warner Bros. Pictures

VIEWERS REACTION:

Really well acted, well done film, 14 December 2007

8/10

At first, I thought that this movie would be okay at best, abysmal at worst. But I was pleasantly surprised to see Will Smith, "Robert Neville," give a spectacular performance, full of emotion and anger, and bordering a bit on the insane side. I take off points only because it seems like a film that's been done before (and it has, I know, but I don't mean literally). What sets it apart from the rest of the post-apocalyptic man made human killing virus that zombifies people films is the depth of Will Smith's character. With cross-cuts to dreams and the portrayal of Robert Neville's loneliness, the audience connects with him on both a deep mental level and a more surface level driven by pathos. You both laugh and cry with him, you jump out of your seat when he gets scared, and you cheer for him throughout. I walked in expecting a zombie shoot-em-up and settled into something much more thought provoking and intense. It wasn't perfect, but it certainly deserves a look, even if you're not into the whole undead thing.

"Legend" really separates itself from all other post-apocalyptic films., 14 December 2007

9/10

Is it me, or does every movie that portrays the future, it's always some post-apocalyptic setting or the fall of man with man itself to blame? Not a lot to look forward to is it? Anyways, after years of being let down by so called scary zombie/virus movie genres and other blockbuster thriller debacles, "I Am Legend" really separates itself from the group.

Without giving too much way, Will Smith plays a sole survivor of a world dominating virus created by man that was originally created to cure cancer. Three years into the "new" world, Smith (who was a former doctor) dedicates his life to survival, finding a cure....and talking to mannequins. In order to find a cure he seeks out the infected, who only come out at night, and hoping to correct man's mistake.

"Legend" was the first truly scary movie I've seen in some time. Realism is the main factor in scary movies in my opinion. If it can happen, than that's pretty scary. Also, Smith's portrayal of despair and borderline insanity of three years of seclusion added to the effect. With the exception of his dog, Smith had no live contact with constant failure attempts of his cure only leading to his insanity. It had a "Cast Away" feel to it with his dog as to Hank's volleyball and his house reminding you of that stranded island.

The action/suspense scenes coupled with superb sound direction were also heart pounding and unexpected which added to the "scare" factor. Whenever Smith engaged with the zombie-like survivors, there was that claustrophobic feeling that I haven't felt since "Alien." My only real complaint was the overuse of CGI over real actors for these characters, but with their speed and strength that these things showed if may have not been possible.

"Legend" overall is one of the better movies of 2007 and a must see. Not Oscar-worthy by any stretch of the imagination, but it's certainly entertaining, realistically tense and maybe even thought provoking.

Way to COMPLETELY change/ruin the original novel "I Am Legend.", 15 December 2007

1/10

Basically this film changes the main character COMPLETELY, deletes EVERY OTHER character from the novel, ends with Neville being a hero rather than an ANTIHERO, contains a dog in a completely changed way from the novel, and ADDS all other characters completely NOT in the book. Also, Neville's family is killed in a helicopter crash in the film. In the book, his wife returns from the dead as a vampire and Neville visits her in the mausoleum nearly every day. He longs to be with her. His daughter too dies from the plague of the disease.

Read the novel. Skip the movie.

If this had been called anything other than "I Am Legend" I would have given it maybe 3 stars to begin with...but since it stole he namesake of a great, great novel only to let me down more than The Lost World did... 1 star. Rent it if you are THAT bored sometime...

What?, 16 December 2007

1/10

This was like Spike Lee directing a George Romero movie that could have been an hour shorter. All of the "infected" looked like Gollum from Lord of the Rings mixed with Beowulf. If the flashbacks were framed near the beginning, maybe I would have cared if he was alone. With the lack of soundtrack, it made the movie drag on like it was four hours long and do we need to place the camera on Will Smith for two minutes, watching him stare at nothing? He only has about two expressions in his repertoire anyway. This movie could have been great but it was edited all weird and could have used some music to heighten his alone time to pull us into his miserable world. If you want to see the concept done correctly, in my opinion, check out The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price. Same thing done well. Or even Omega Man with Charlton Heston. They were actually more real and scarier, just another example of Hollywood putting style over substance to give The Fresh Prince an Oscar nod.