I Am Legend - Francis Lawrence
19 January 2008If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I was drawn to this Francis Lawrence work and Will Smith starrer because of its rather exciting premise of being possibly the last man on earth in a post apocalyptic, 2012, Manhattan after a deadly man made virus decimated 90% of the world’s population. This virus was initially thought of as a cure to cancer but mutated. Those who survived were either transformed into blood thirsty and light fearing monsters who only come out at night or were eaten by them.
Col. Robert Neville with dog Sam prowls the decaying streets and landscape of these famous but now deserted city being overrun by nature. Going about their daily routine: renting DVDs, looking for supplies, hunting deer, waiting for other humans, if there are any, who might have heard his all AM frequency broadcast, finding a cure to the virus at his basement laboratory and sealing his house just before darkness falls.
The film, clearly, a star vehicle for Smith has to carry the movie on his shoulders, especially the first part where he is all there alone with his dog in the wild trying to survive against a bleak backdrop of urban decay. And his acting prowess really doesn’t disappoint. However, while there’s no doubt about his capabilities, the movie in general left me with some questions. These might be trivial to some but nevertheless, are still questions that the movie tried to wiggle out by way of a line or two of dialogue.
First, Neville’s home is just plush, well stocked and state-of-the-art with well designed booby traps and flood lights around the house, a great contrast with the overall surroundings. Of course, it is easy to say that he assembled it in all those three years after the outbreak happened in 2009 and his daily foraging supplied much of his needs, coupled with his military background but I was expecting that he was in some dreary apartment. Second, I was just surprised with his reaction to the two normal humans, a woman and a boy, who enters the picture later. I was hoping that with his dog companion gone and having not seen any other human beings for quite some time, he would have been very pleased and civil but he was not. Third, hmmm, well, this is sci-fi and the writers can do anything they want like making the monsters super creatures with super strength and agility. Fourth, I thought they were afraid of the light but during the last part, the monsters just didn’t give a damn about the fire that spread around the house.
On a brighter note, I just can’t help wondering how they did the desolate landscape. Really impressive.
One Response to “I Am Legend - Francis Lawrence”
Wow! You keep creating new blogs!
By Sidney on Aug 21, 2008