I Am Legend

[darth_librarian]

Saw this the other day.

First caveat, I was a big fan of the book, and knew beforehand that the plot would differ significantly from it, especially with the realization of the title. The concept of how the lead character becomes a 'legend' has been moved from a negative frame to a positive frame in this movie adaption.

And I think it looses nothing from it. It carries the original premise, of one man existing in an abandoned modern civilization surrounded by undead very well. The feeling of isolation conveyed by the lead was amazing.

In fact Will Smith carried the whole movie, I would urge you to see it for his performance. So far in his career, he could be compared to the other three popular afro-American actors out there, Samuel L. Jackson, Eddie Murphie and Morgan Freeman. He was comparable in talent to the latter in this movie in his portrayal as man alone and on the edge. His performance in this film was honestly Oscar worthy. After watching this guy in umpteen episodes of the Fresh prince, I honestly saw hm act his arse off. He was amazing in this film.

Sadly, the CGI for the vampires was dreadful, and ruined the tone of the whole movie. 30 Days of Night showed that actors can convey this well with live action, so the choice and use of substandard CGI was a mystery. There was some awesome CGI for some of the initial shots of New York, so maybe that swallowed the budget.

Anyhow, go see guys, if just for Will Smith. Recommended. A great sci-fi start for 2008.

 

[StarStuff]

We had been warned about the undead and were prepared - and I agree that the special effects of the undead were really poor. For one thing why did they all look exactly alike? If they were supposed to be people who had become infected wouldn't there have been - men, women, and children - short and tall, etc.

Because we weren't expecting too much we were surprised at that we actually enjoyed it. People clapped at the end of the movie, and the scenes of NY in ruins were awesome.

 

[LondosHair]

The movie was excellent -- The CGI (except for the monsters) and cinematography was amazing. Will Smith's performance put him up there with actors like Tom Hanks and Anthony Hopkins. The two scenes that stand out in my mind are 1) in his lab when Sam starts to turn, and 2) in the video store the next day when he finally talks to the "woman" in the corner.

I hadn't read the book, but after a friend summed it up for me, I can see what the big differences were. I'm glad I learned about the book AFTER seeing the movie, because otherwise the movie wouldn't have been quite as good.

I thought there was too much emphasis on the suspense and "scary" parts. I thought the monsters were too monstrous, with their unhinged jaws and ridiculously-exaggerated screaming.

I didn't think the movie was worth seeing in a theater, where everything is ratcheted-up. But that's just me. The movie was VERY intense, putting the viewer on a roller-coaster of emotions like gladness, compassion, heartbreak and hopelessness. It's also a movie I'll only see once -- the re-watch factor of this movie is very low.

Still, a major success for Will Smith. I can't wait to see him in Hancock.