I Am Legend (imdb)
Will Smith stars as the last man alive in New York, after a virus outbreak ruins the city. The virus, supposed to act as a cure for cancer, wrecks humanity, turning all infected into vampireseque-zombies. Smith plays as Robert Neville, a military scientist who happens to have immunity to the virus. Holding down the fort in New York, Neville is determined to find a cure and he holds to a disciplined lifestyle that allows him to survive the nightly zombie-roaming.
The film is kind of a “28 Days Later-lite,” where the empty city and a sense of hopelessness is the focus. The odds are constantly against Neville, and his first encounter with the zombies is highly frightening. However, the rest of the film - when the zombies are completely revealed - lighten things up; the zombie-vampires look like they were modeled off of “The Mummy” and look very computery to say the least. These cartoony monsters definitely did not add to the film.
Although I had these gripes, I Am Legend was not entirely bad - in fact I enjoyed it for the most part. The movie is, on the whole, very entertaining as Smith commands the screen. Furthermore, for a PG13 vehicle, this movie does have some scares and maintains a decent amount of tension. I managed to see I Am Legend in IMAX also, making the experience bigger and grander. The attached Dark Knight preview was quite awesome too.
I Am Legend is good entertainment, though I can’t say its perfect pop-art. I wish it were a bit darker and more like “28 Days Later in New York City with Will Smith” rather than its current release. The film however works well, and I’d say the IMAX version is worth a ticket price just to see The Dark Knight preview in its full glory.
3.5 dressed-up mannequins out of 5
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