I really, really liked the first four-fifths of this movie.
Much like The Last Man on Earth, I Am Legend does a great job with setting up the bleak existence of the sole survivor of a vampire/zombie virus that has decimated the planet. The suspense scenes, in particular, are exceptional. It's rare these days to find a movie that's actually scary.
And Will Smith does a phenomenal job with the main role, packing it full of emotion and anger sliding into insanity. You laugh with him, you cry with him, you jump out of your seat when he gets scared, and you cheer for him.
Which is odd, because one of the basic questions of this movie is "who is the monster?" Has Neville's mindless pursuit of a "cure" and an end to the zombie plague made him the one to be feared?
Unfortunately, two big things mar this film. The CGI work on the animals and the zombies is subpar at best. You always know you're looking at a computer-generated animation.
And the stupid kid and pseudo-happy ending may have made the film execs happy, but I didn't like them at all. They spent so much time painting this dark portrait of madness and despair -- and then tossed in some daisies for no damn reason.
I think if I watch this again on cable or DVD, I'll turn it off five minutes before the end. Then it will be a great flick.
No comments:
Post a Comment