I Am Legend (2007)

In 1954, author Richard Matheson wrote the science fiction novel, I Am Legend. Matheson has also written several other novels, including one of my favorites, What Dreams May Come. Which was also made into a movie starring Robin Williams, and it even won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 1999.

I am surprised that I Am Legend appears to be the 4th remake of the movie. With the original being The Last Man on Earth (1964). I've seen this one but I still need to see the other 2, just to compare them all. Vincent Price was excellent in the original, even if the film is quite dull and is filled of narration.

Other writers, such as Stephen King, George Romero, and Dean Koontz, have been quoted to say only good things about Richard Matheson.

I Am Legend stars Will Smith, who is known mostly for doing comedies. However, he has been recently going into other genres. He is also in the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness. Smith has proven that he can do more than just comedy. I Am Legend was nothing like that I expected. I have never read the novel but I am now considering it. There were similarities in this movie, to other movies that have been made in the last 10 years. Such as 28 Days Later, and even a slightly older movie, Night of the Comet. But I Am Legend, in my opinion, is the Grandfather of most of these movies that are in the same vain, even if those films are about zombies. When I recently saw The Last Man on Earth, it was then that I realized that this first film was actually about vampires and not zombies as I Am Legend appears to be. Interesting difference to say the least.

The story takes place in a future where a well known virus is reversed and is being used to treat cancer patients. It ended up curing them all for the time being, however, not too long after that, it had disastrous side effects. Smith's character, Dr Robert Neville, who was also in the Military, stayed behind after there was a quarantine and evacuation of New York City. He was desperately trying to find a cure for the side effects, which pretty much infected and/or killed 99% of the entire population of the world. He ends up being all alone.

There was CGI in the movie, and one of the things that I did not like about it was the fact that some of the 'characters' and 'animals' were done with CGI. Granted the CGI wasn't too bad but I honestly think that not using it might have made the movie even better.

Most scenes were of Smith's character being the only one in it. I thought that it might be a bad idea, but after seeing the movie, I think that it was brilliant. He also had his faithful companion, Sam, which was his dog.

Seeing New York city completely deserted was kinda scary within its self. Reminded me of Stephen King's The Stand. King has said that Matheson was the first writer who influenced him. George Romero and Dean Koontz have been quoted to say only good things about Richard Matheson as well.

Overall, I do believe that the rating on IMDb (currently 7.1/10) is well deserved. If you like actors who had stayed in their genre and then moved on, like Will Smith (and others like Jim Carey who is in Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Number 23) you'll like this movie. You will also like it if you like other movies where people end up being completely alone.