Rating: 7.2/10
Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.
Director:
Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence
Writers:
Mark Protosevich (screenplay), Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)
Mark Protosevich (screenplay), Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)
Stars:
Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan
Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan
Storyline:
Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time. Written by Warner Bros. Pictures
User Reviews:
In 2012, three years after a genetically modified virus which was supposed to cure cancer ended up wiping out most of the world's population, a scientist named Robert Neville, immune to this virus, appears to be the only uninfected human left in New York City, maybe even the world, and his only companion is his dog, Sam! Neville does research in his basement laboratory to try and find a cure for the virus, and regularly sends out radio messages, calling for other survivors to come and meet him, if there are any out there, but so far, this has not worked. Eventually, the scientist discovers people in New York who have not been killed by the virus, but have been mutated by it, and as a result, they have become dangerous monsters! Worse still, there are many of them in the city, and Neville is still waiting to see another uninfected human, so he is grossly outnumbered!
This film is slow-paced around the beginning, but this works well, starting with the introduction to the virus which was yet to fail, and going from there to views of a deserted New York, which are reasonably intriguing. Some scenes may be a bit tedious, such as Robert Neville looking through the dark building before finding the mutants, and the camera is sometimes a bit unsteady, but to make up for the flaws, there's quite a bit of tension (which includes scenes with the mutated, zombie-like humans and they're chases and attacks, even though I'm sure we've seen scenes like that before in movies), as well as some poignant moments, with Neville and his loneliness. Also, for Bob Marley fans, the main character is a big fan of his, and at one point, he talks about Marley and his philosophies. As someone who listens to his music and has read a lot about his short life, this part definitely touched me, and it obviously isn't featured in the previous two adaptations, as they were both made before Marley became an international superstar.
Yes, this film has its flaws, and seems to have gotten a lot of positive feedback as well as negative, but personally, I have to give it a positive review. While not quite a masterpiece, I still found it to be a memorable sci-fi/horror film, with a fair amount of suspense, action, and poignancy. Once again, I don't know how it compares to the book or the previous two adaptations of it, and clearly, it seems to be widely considered inferior to those, but while that may be true, I cannot join the naysayers on this one. If you see this version of "I Am Legend", I guess you could easily end up on either side, but if you want to see a combination of sci-fi, horror, and drama, and you're a Will Smith fan, I think it's worth a try, and yes, it just MIGHT help a BIT if you're a Bob Marley fan.
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