Director Francis Lawrence (Constantine [2005]) creates a lonely and deserted backdrop of a futuristic New York in I Am Legend. In this desolate city, military scientist Robert Neville (Will Smith from Independence Day [1996]) seems to be the last human survivor. And so this movie becomes a one-man show for actor Will Smith who proves he’s all it takes to make a box office success.
In I Am Legend, Neville and his canine companion Samantha roam the streets for food by day and barricade themselves at his Greenwich Village home by night. Every day, Neville also searches for any sign of other survivors. Survivors of the infected, that is.
A few years back in 2009, a researcher announced a cure for cancer – a discovery that would change the future of mankind. But this cure soon becomes a virus that kills over 90% of the world’s population. The rest become infected and turn into cannibalistic vampire-like creatures. The infected cannot walk in direct sunlight, they sleep in dark places during the day, and they savagely prey on anything living.
Neville, as he later explains, is one of only a small percentage that is immune to this airborne virus. So he spends his time testing his medical research on infected animals, then humans, hoping to find a cure. But time is running out when he observes these vicious creatures evolving, desperate for survival.
There are suspenseful scenes in I Am Legend when Neville has encounters with the infected. The first time you see them, Neville’s dog runs into a dark building to chase after a deer. Neville frantically yells for her to come back, but she ignores him. Marked with terror, Neville slowly enters the ominous doors to save his good friend. The audience experiences an agonizing feeling as Neville tensely searches through the structure, exposing his light only a second at a time so not to disturb
them.
I Am Legend is based upon Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel of the same name. Prior films like The Last Man on Earth (1964) and The Omega Man (1971) are also influenced by Matheson’s book. Though I’ve never even heard of these earlier films, I’d like to see how they represented these infected people and how they decided to conclude the story. Sad to say, I Am Legend ended a bit abruptly that I was left unsatisfied by such a swift resolution.
But Lawrence’s I Am Legend was portrayed beautifully and creatively. I appreciate his decision to let the story speak for itself instead of drowning the scenes with a narration track. Besides a repetitious Bob Marley song, there was barely any music. The haunting silences and distant bird sounds audibly illustrated how empty the city was.
Kristin’s Grade: A-
Director: Francis Lawrence
Screenwriters: Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman
Based on: Book by Richard Matheson
Genre: Action / Horror / Science Fiction
Running Time: 101 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence)
