[I Am Legend]
Plot:Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable…and manmade. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City…and maybe the world. But he is not alone. He is surrounded by “the Infected”—victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings who can only exist in the dark and who will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path.

For three years, Neville has spent his days scavenging for food and supplies and faithfully sending out radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. All the while, 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 his blood is also what The Infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time.

Cast:Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Alice Braga, Willow Smith.

My Thoughts:I Am....bored.

Review:If there's one lesson I've learned over time, it's that big budget horror-sci-fi-thrillers with a major star in the lead most of the time never pan out. "War Of The Worlds" put a small dent in that theory, but then "I Am Legend" came along to bang that dent right out. The film stars Will Smith as a scientist who, through a variety of flashbacks throughout the picture, we're shown has discovered a cure for cancer. However, the cure has come at a price, a price that has infected millions of the worlds populous and has turned them into raving mutant killers called "Darkseekers".

After evacuating his family to a safe zone, Arthur Neville stayed behind to try and find a cure for the disease. But the darkseekers are tracking him, and watching him...and waiting for their opportunity to strike. "I Am Legend" is a film that really does not know how to properly utilize what it has. The set up that Smith's character is the last man alive on earth really isn't utilized to it's fullest. We get scenes of Smith's character zooming around town with his trusty K-9 sidekick seeking out supplies and such, but that's pretty much it. In a film were a viral-apocalypse of sorts has struck, I would've thought that the director Francis Lawrence would've played around with the empty, quiet, and desolate wasteland atmosphere alot more than he did.

Most of the action is confined to one particular area of the world, New York City. We never get any glimpses of what is going on elsewhere like maybe in California or Europe. Smith himself is confined by a very weak and quiet script which doesn't allow for him to do or say much. "I Am Legend" Will Smith is alot of steps down from "Bad Boys 2" Will Smith. He's very reserved, on his guard, and stone-faced in this movie, and quite frankly I don't think serious-action star Will Smith plays as well as comedic-action star Will Smith.

Sure, the situation calls for a very serious character seeing as how this is a disaster flick, but I just wish Smith had shown a bit more charisma in the movie. The only time he does light up the screen in that regard is when he's talking to his dog, or battling the darkseekers who while they do take alot of time to do so...do eventually show up in the movie to give it some much needed life. In fact, I think had the sequence of events been put in a much different order, maybe this movie would've worked better with me.

The evacuation being told in fragments and flashbacks was pretty lame, as it seemed like a very chaotic and intense sequence of events. It would've really helped the movie to begin things with the evac. scene just to start off the pic on an action-packed note. Instead, the movie starts off slow and timid, and eventually builds to a very exciting climax. "I Am Legend" doesn't offer up much in the line of close-calls either. Smith's character battling the darkseekers does offer up some much needed entertainment to break the monotony of the films early moments, but you never really get the sense that he's in any danger from these mutants beyond his first encounter with them.

And of course, being that this movie is PG-13...blood and gore, either human or mutant is nvery noticeably lacking, which I felt was a shame...considering the type of enemy Smith's character was dealing with, as well as their large numbers. "I AM Legend" is a film that starts off at a snails pace and picks up slowly, but surely as it moves along. It makes a very intense and quick transition into full-blown action mode in it's final act, and if you're the type of viewer who likes your movies to come to a slow boil, then it's the film for you.

However, if you're like me...very impatient, and not happy when acts 1 and 2 offer up little to no entertainment whatsoever...then you won't like this movie. "I Am Legend" is really a movie that works for a certain audience, and I assume that particular audience will enjoy it the most. Me however, I was quite bored with this movie up until act three which atleast managed to send me out of the theater ith a slight grin.

Positives:Strong finale, Smith does a good job in the lead although the script restrains him alot, nice camera angles and shots of an empty NYC.

Negatives:The script constrains Will too much, not enough action or intensity in the first two acts, the darkseekers weren't as formidable an adversary for Neville as I expected them to be.

Overall:Not a major league letdown but really comes close to that label.





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