I Am Legend

Enjoy this LookingForClues movie review of the latest Will Smith Science Fiction / Action Adventure flick, I Am Legend. Haven't seen it? Why not buy a copy! It's out on DVD - Own it now! Plot Synopsis: Will Smith stars in the third adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic science-fiction novel about a lone human survivor in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by vampires. This new version somewhat alters Matheson's central hook, i.e., the startling idea that an ordinary man, Robert Neville, spends his days roaming a desolated city and his nights in a house sealed off from longtime neighbors who have become bloodsucking fiends. In the new film, Smith's Neville is a military scientist charged with finding a cure for a virus that turns people into crazed, hairless, flesh-eating zombies. Read More... Please read our review of I Am Legend, below. To own your own copy of the movie, please click on this ad, or click on one of the other DVDs for sale at Amazon.com.

Unforgettable I Am Legend by Lynda Rey    4/13/08 The idea has been done to death, it seems, in the movie world: cities destroyed, emptied, invaded, or radically transformed into something different while still being so eerily familiar at the same time. It's what I sometimes like to call an "end of the world" sort of movie. Admittedly, it's just a guilty pleasure of mine to see yet another take on the same thing. Whether it's natural disasters or alien ones, there's just something fun about seeing typically busy streets and cities suddenly void of anything resembling familiarity. The emptiness is fascinating to see, which speaks volumes about the advancement of visual effects departments at work to get those realistic images onto the big screen. It's enough to make you wonder what the world would really be like when some tragic event happens that turns that once familiar world upside down. "I Am Legend" was the next contender in line to give me my next dosage of the "end of the world" in movies. Now I must admit that my expectations for this film were a bit over the top. As a result, I left the theater a tad disappointed. There was quite a bit of research on my part as I learned the origin of this "I Am Legend," from its book to the various movies in the past that touch on the book's general plot. Yes, I wanted a perfect replica. This movie is not that perfect replica, but frankly, it isn't fair to hate it because of that. So fear not, my disappointment may have been present, but fortunately, it did not equal a bitter attitude towards the film. Though very far from the perfection I had in mind, this is one enjoyable film thanks to Will Smith's performance alone. Will Smith, whose acting prowess is incredibly top-notch and difficult to match, definitely added to the realistic tone of the film. A very versatile actor, he brings to life our hero character named Robert Neville, a military scientist who finds himself alone in a world gone wrong after a manmade experiment backfires on the people it was meant to help. Gradually, millions upon millions of people undergo radical transformations into strange and creepy creatures similar to vampires. With one bite or one breath, helpless people can fall victim to either death, or their own transformation. Robert is accompanied only by his own personal man's best friend, a German Shepherd named Sam. The relationship they share onscreen is extremely touching, something that only us dog lovers can appreciate. As the movie begins, we're almost instantaneously thrown right in the middle of the void, learning as the movie progresses what exactly happened to get us there. It backtracks during random crucial moments in the film, not leaving us too much in the dark about important scenes and characters. So how does a movie that depicts vampire-like creatures, escaped zoo animals, and an emptied Manhattan actually look? It's visually quite pretty if you ask me. There's nothing like seeing emptiness in typically overcrowded cities, or seeing animals where you know they shouldn't be, from stampeding elk, to hunting lions. As far as the creatures themselves, they're visually fun in their own right. Even though I secretly wished all along that our vampire fiends were a little less digital and a bit more practical with realistic make-up effects, their screen presence was still a force to be reckoned with. Though in some ways they reminded me of monsters of old, like Imhotep in 1999's "The Mummy," they had a distinctive quality and ferocity where it counted. But we all know that movies should be more than something pretty to look at. There also should be an intriguing plot as well as a good story. "I Am Legend" certainly qualifies as such. That is, if it was a standalone movie with no reference to go on. Though some references were very similar to the book, there are many more that didn't play out in film as they did in the book, such as Neville's relationship with the infected. However, the movie's storyline was still catchy. Mankind discovers a way to "play God," so to speak, and as a result, had to suffer the consequences of their error. As the character Robert Neville so eloquently put it, "God didn't do this; we did." It was as if mankind managed to sabotage their own existence by trying to exercise a power that was never theirs in the first place. That plot point alone is intriguing, and if you can forget the lack of similarity between the movie and the book, you can really get grabbed by this movie. Nothing could have prepared me for what was to come on "I Am Legend"'s DVD release, namely the 2-disc Special Edition. While I'm not too impressed with the fact that the majority of special features must be accessed via a personal computer instead of a DVD player, I was still very pleased with what was laid out before me in disc 2: an alternate version of the movie, with a completely different ending than what was seen in theaters. While I wouldn't say it's better or worse, it is definitely different. In one sense, it's even further from the book's ending, but in another sense, it's closer. But I will say no more. This is a very unique film to behold for whatever your heart delights in, be it the visual effects, storyline, Will Smith, or even Abbey the star German Shepherd. If at all in your power, find any reason you can to take part in the legend. Lynda is 26 years old, lives in Indiana, and hopes to one day pursue a career working with animals. She enjoys many forms of self-expression, including art, poetry, and writing, which is one of the latter additions to her list of hobbies. Comments

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