Movie Description
In I AM LEGEND, Will Smith joins the ranks of Vincent Price (in 1964's THE LAST MAN ON EARTH) and Charlton Heston (in 1971's OMEGA MAN) as the star of an adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name. Often surprising in its focus on loneliness and loss, this thoughtful, eerie, and restrained sci-fi horror film provides a parade of startling visuals, but never allows special effects to overcome the human element. Smith, in a strong performance very different from his usual persona, is Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a New York City where streets are overgrown and deer gambol among deserted automobiles. Following an epidemic, the Earth's population has been turned into an army of nocturnal zombies. Immune to the virus, military scientist Neville searches for a cure in his Washington Square townhouse. Haunted by visions of his family leaving quarantined Manhattan two years prior, he drives through the city with his German Shepherd, Sam, by day and barricades his home from the monsters nightly. But when Anna (Alice Braga)--another immune stranger-finds him, they will have to fight the onslaught twice as hard.
Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich's emotionally-charged script showcases the charisma of Smith, who commands the screen alone for most of the picture (aside Abbey, a talented German Shepherd). Director Francis Lawrence (CONSTANTINE) uses music minimally, wisely allowing the eerie cityscapes to remain mostly silent. The set pieces, including an overgrown, deserted Times Square and a lion hunting a deer in the Flatrion District, are goosebump-inducing moments of stark beauty. Though some may question the rendering of the monsters in CGI instead of using actors, it does allow them to be frighteningly acrobatic. A chilling and effective adaptation of a horror classic, I AM LEGEND is also a thought-provoking piece of Hollywood filmmaking.
| Credits | | Producer: | David Heyman, James Lassiter, Neal H. Moritz | | Cast: | Dash Mihok, Willow Smith |
| Details | | Edition: | Full Frame |
Editorial Reviews
"[Smith is] one of the very few actors who can star essentially solo in a feature-length film and keep us riveted....[His] physical transformation is awe-inspiring..."
USA Today - Claudia Puig (12/14/2007)
"[S]lick, adrenaline-fueled fun....The first third of the movie is a high-octane joy ride through post-apocalyptic Manhattan..."
Los Angeles Times - Carina Chocano (12/14/2007)
3 stars out of 4 -- "It is totally cool to see Manhattan devoid of people as Will Smith and his dog roam the ruins....Director Francis Lawrence keeps you squirming."
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers (12/27/2007)
3 stars out of 5 -- "I AM LEGEND goes a surprisingly long way to explore psychology, and Smith fearlessly dives headfirst into the mind of an individual who's had no human contact for almost 40 months."
Empire - Dan Jolin (02/01/2008)
4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's a lean, eerie sci-fi thriller with the kind of brains and heart not normally found in multiplex movies, and some genuinely affecting moments."
Ultimate DVD - Ultimate DVD Staff (05/01/2008)
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