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The Good: Will Smith plays a character other than Will Smith. Has potential to become iconic snapshot of early twenty-first century western gadgetry. Surprisingly fast pace forces the story to tell itself without too much painful exposition.

The Bad: Far from being a spiritual successor to Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel. Probably won’t age as well as The Omega Man. A visually stunning rendition of abandoned Manhattan Island is cheapened by BAD CG zombie vampires. Does not deliver on its much touted themes of isolation and loneliness. Dialogue on God vs Science seemed contrived. Plot resolves itself with all the complexity of a certain Will Smith/Kevin James buddy picture/debacle known as Hitch.

I've posted the rest of my review to my blog

As Corporal Hicks would say, "For what it's worth..."

cpyritead:

A visually stunning rendition of abandoned Manhattan Island is cheapened by BAD CG zombie vampires.

Agreed.

Did I like 'I Am Legend'?

I loved Will Smith's performance and I adored the way that a dog was successfully portrayed as a major character in the movie. As you mentioned, the desolate setting was flawless, and the few faithful aspects of the novella that made it to the screen, were done so in a respectful fashion. I also give full props that the makers avoided the 'terrorist biological attack' that the trailers seemed to suggest, as the jumping off point for the terrible situation mankind faces.

However, while I found much to admire in 'I Am Legend', once again we're given a bunch of creatures that look like they escaped from a badly rendered video game ('Van Helsing', anyone?). Every compelling moment was dampened for me whenever the Dark Seekers were on screen.

Call me crazy, but I find The Infected from '28 Days Later' (who are simply actors with a little make-up and contact lenses) far more terrifying and plausible than these Dark Seekers. The Infected are stronger and faster simply because the Rage virus has them locked in a continual state of homicidal rage (which makes sense within the internal logic of the movie).

While I can accept (and very much enjoy) the fact that a rogue cancer vaccine is used as the catalyst for the savage Dark Seekers, I can't think of any reason why we need to see these things rendered with CGI. Would this mutated disease make the humans act like savages? Sure, I can buy this. What I can't buy, is that it would give them the ability to climb along ceilings and bound off walls like freakin' Spider-Man. This is nothing but Hollywood excess, brought on by the same "look what we do!" mentality that gave us the ludicrous army of Agent Smiths battle in 'The Matrix Reloaded'. Heck, none of that rubbish was in Matheson's brilliant novella.

Above all else, using CGI to show the Dark Seekers, destroys the poignant reality that these things were once US... human beings. It didn't feel like these things were EVER human to begin with, and I could forgive anyone who missed key aspects of the story for thinking they were watching a movie where monstrous creatures had invaded the Earth and wiped everyone out. The Robert Neville of Matheson's novel even knows some of his antagonists, such as his neighbor who he continually hunts for (Ben Cortman, if memory serves me well). I would have loved to have seen this aspect translated to the screen.

I wanted to leave the theater feeling like I had just seen the definitive version of my favorite Richard Matheson story. Instead, I left feeling unsure whether I actually liked it or not. After a week to reflect, all I can say about the movie is... good effort, but no cigar.

Steve

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Come on over for a taste of darkness...

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You want to know a real scary thing due to the suprise success of the movie they are thinking of doing a follow up.  As much bad stuff some people found with this I think a prequel or sequel will be even worse.

Lastly I find it interesting some people equate the mutants as vampires and some as zombies.  What would you say they are/were?

 

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AKalel:

Lastly I find it interesting some people equate the mutants as vampires and some as zombies.  What would you say they are/were?

Escapees from a video game.

Steve

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Come on over for a taste of darkness...

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the last guests to leave steve's new year's eve party.

seriously, i grant that, after seeing the movie, i can understand why some of the movie reviewers keep referring to the "dark seekers" as zombies rather than vampires.

and, steve, you make a valid point regarding how the cgi work this time around may distance the viewer more from the original story concept that Matheson proposed regarding the antagonism, fear-enmity relationship between Neville and the vampire survivors of the pandemic.

but i still give this version of the novel points above The Omega Man (which i still enjoy...hey, after all, it is CHARLTON HESTON!!!!!) and its predecessor, The Last Man on Earth (Vincent Price was excellent but the vampires depicted in that movie were bloody pathetic...and yes the pun is intentional!).

RIGHT THEN...BECAUSE CHANGES TO THE BOARD SET UP HAVE ELIMINATED THE GOOD OL' "INVISIBLE LETTERING" OPTION...THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS ARE POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR ANYONE WHO HAS NOT SEEN THE MOVIE...SO JUST CLOSE OFF AND GO LOOK AT ANOTHER THREAD...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i also argue that the atmospher of isolation and solitude was well-portrayed through Will Smith's Neville's reaction to his "mannequin citizens" that he had set up around various common areas for him. especially the lunatic reaction to the one mannequin that was "out of place" because the vampires had moved it as part of the trap they set up for their Day Walker enemy.

i mean, Neville is screaming at a store dummy for not being where he is supposed to be! it's like when you or i get so caught up in a ventriloquist's routine that we find ourselves arguing with or getting mad at the dummy! for that one brief period, our perception of reality has shifted and the whole concept of anthropomorphosis goes sideways as we ascribe sentience, emotions, the whole gamut of what it is to be a person to a lifeless image.

that is what happened with the character of Neville. the long weeks, months, going on years of isolation slowly preyed on his mind despite his best efforts to combat it. even his canine companion was not enough to prevent the madness from slipping by his psychic defences. the vampires' use of one of HIS mannequin people as the lure for their trap was the final drop of water that caused his bucket of misery and madness to spill over in that single cathartic moment, blinding him to what should have been an otherwise obvious danger signal and causing him to stumble into a trap that he could have and would have under any other normal circumstances avoided with ease.

and, dave, i agree, any rumours or even suggestions of a possible "prequel" or "sequel" to this movie are disturbing though these days given Hollywood's penchant for blockbuster movie series, we really should not be surprised if someone floats that balloon to see how high it rises.

wonder what Mr. Matheson would say to any such suggestion?

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Thanks, but I don't need any help getting into trouble since I seem to manage quite well on my own.

It's been a couple years since I read the novella but I'm pretty sure they were written as vampires there. 

While we are throwing about Blade references, the Legend goons stuck me a bit more as the mutant vampires that had to feed every day vis-a-vis Blade 2.  A wee bit too smart to be escapees from Resident Evil, but lacking in the necessary elocution to carry the class of your run of the mill vampire.

Steve:  Comparing the CG of the movie to Matrix Reloaded - I could not agree more.