Ryan McNeil
In that regard, I was truly happy that I AM LEGEND achieved what an action movie should be.
The story of a virus begins with a cure. A scientist believes she has engineered a cure for cancer, and has over 10,000 healthy test patients to support her theory. Unfortunately, the cure unleashes a disease far worse than cancer and one that threatens to wipe out mankind altogether. Victims of the virus become a twisted vampire-zombie hybrid. They are allergic to daylight and prone to devouring the healthy.
Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) is the leading military researcher in trying to thwart the disease. In addition, he seems to be one of the few that are immune to its effects. Neville cannot find a cure in time, and the military plots another course. In an attempt to isolate the plague, the military seals off the island of Manhattan – ground zero for the infected. Through a twist of fate, Neville doesn’t get off the island in time, and three years later he becomes the only living man in New York.
With Sam, his German Sheppard, as his only companion, Neville fills his days exploring the deserted city. He wades through the brush that has run wild in Times Square. He drives a Mustang over 60mph down a deserted Fifth Avenue. He hunts deer that have began to wander free on 42nd Street. Despite his isolation, he remains upbeat and determined…keeping Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” as his theme song for his every outing and chore.
While he may feel like the last man standing, he knows he is not. In every shadow, and during every nightfall, he must protect himself from the leagues of vampires that are steadily running out of victims. As a soldier, he has become amazingly adept at hunting them, trapping them, and protecting himself. However, as time passes, the vampires begin to adapt…and eventually become particularly good at hunting and trapping too.
I AM LEGEND is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Richard Matheson. It is the third film adaptation of the novel, which was also the source material for 1964’s THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, and 1971’s THE OMEGA MAN. I’ve never read the book, but a good friend that has says that none of the three films have done the novel justice. I really only mention this as a point of interest – if I began writing about the injustices of literary adaptations, I could go on for days.
What the movie achieves best is tension. Before we fully understand the dangers the vampire pose, we watch Neville panic as his dog runs into the shadows of an abandoned tunnel. He yells and panics as if certain death lives in the dark…all well before the audience meets the vampires and learns about how they work. From that point on, the audience adapts quickly, and the movie puts a fear into them every time a shadow stretches with the setting sun.
It’s also intriguing to watch Neville attempt to continue on with a somewhat normal life in a deserted New York. While he steadily researches a cure using infected rats, he bides his time by taking whatever food he can find, hitting golf balls, and even frequenting a video store. The movie understands that for one to succeed all alone, one must become a creature of habit. Routine gives us direction, helps us to achieve. When there’s nothing else telling us what to do, or when to do it, it becomes a chore to get up in the morning. Routine can keep us from losing our minds.
There are a few logical holes in the movie which I won’t dissect. The movie doesn’t pretend to be high drama, so the fallacies can be chalked up to the usual “007 Yeah, Right” factor.
The movie is a good one, but it’s important to go in with the proper expectations. As an sci-fi movie and an action film, it succeeds. It achieves based on the long sequences weaving through a desolate New York City, and on the tension created with Neville never-ending duel with the infected. It primarily avoids attempting to be profound, and sticks with trying to entertain.