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Years ago, THE OMEGA MAN scared the bejeezus out of me, then again, I was young and even seeing somewhat dated visions of an empty world and rather badly done shots of people collapsing from a viral attack, still scared me. I AM LEGEND, which is the third movie based on the Matheson book, I Am Legend, really is scary for the here and now and thanks to some inventive photography and CG effects, we see a grim but fascinating vision of a completely abandoned New York City from the get-go. A well intentioned virologist Dr Krippen(played uncredited by Emma Thompson) in a news clip as the film's opening production tags play, shows a quick "human interest" story as a TV host talks innocently(and somewhat disbelievingly) with her, about her success with "curing cancer with a genetically engineered 'friendly' Measles virus" and that this was administered to over 10,000 cancer patients who are now "Cancer free". Cut to three years later and a dead, overgrown NYC with Will Smith speeding around it in a new Mustang(In THE OMEGA MAN, Chuck Heston sped around LA in a new 1972 Mustang, one of the film's many homages to it's predecessor) we see the extent of Krippen's horrible mistake to mess with and trust the nature of viruses-which can do mutate without prediction. Will Smith is Robert Neville, military virologist who witnessed the end of mankind-he's watching a tape of news as the illness begins to mutate and media is becoming alarmed. Krippen's Virus had a bizarre side effect-it mutated and became a contagious, airborne rabies-like illness that either kills outright or drives it's victims to become rage-filled, blood/fluid drinking mutants who hide in the shadows and only come out at night. (In THE OMEGA MAN it turned them into psychotic hippies called "The Family" styled after Charles Manson who was still hot news at the time-films are products of their own time) The virus spread very fast as we see in quick flashbacks(Omega Man was told in several flashbacks as effective). Mannequins play a role in THE OMEGA MAN, and they do in I AM LEGEND. It is Smith's amazing acting talent that holds one riveted. It did me. The "mutants" are styled after the running infected in 28 DAYS LATER the only difference-and the film's drawback-is that too much CGI is used here and we're now so used to seeing CG in movies, that it appears that is what it is. In 28 DAYS LATER and it's sequel 28 WEEKS LATER, dancers were used as the running, screaming rage infected victims to much better effect. The CG FX shine in the visions of a ruined NYC, with grass and weeds everywhere, wildlife roaming, and destroyed bridges thanks to the military quarantine of the city. Obviously, it did little good as we overhear in a flashback, the President saying that "every major world city has taken the same action". Smith reminds us later, in dialog, "nothing was supposed to happen the way it did" It's a frightening vision, and I think the point being made was if, in reality, the Bird Flu hit and became easy to transmit, such scenes of sheer pandemonium, in larger cities would not be so much fiction. It's a terrific film.Read full review
To the modern eye, the Plot for the 1954 Richard Matheson novel "I Am Legend" might sound something like "Cast Away" with Zombies. Truth be told, that's not a terrible premise, and 'Constantine' Director Francis Lawrence runs with that. Where he takes it works hard, and you are ensured to enjoy this ride. Will Smith plays Robert Neville, a Virologist investigating a genetically engineered cure for Cancer that has gone very, very wrong. With most of the World's Population wiped out and a small remnant turned into ravenous, infected carriers, Neville ekes out a lonely existence with only a dog for company in the remains of New York City. He hunts, forages, and explores by day and shuts himself in at night. The infected, as it turns out, are vulnerable to ultraviolet light. Through flashbacks, we see how Neville came to be in this predicament, and how he dedicated himself to finding a cure. Part of that involves capturing infected humans for testing. In doing so, he incurs the wrath of one of the local CHUDs and Neville soon finds out that these creatures are not as mindless as they look. At first, the film wrings a nightmarish plethora of scares out of Neville's encounters and does an amazingly great job of revealing the monsters bit by bit, until finally unleashing them in their CGI hardcore. By the time they're in full-on assault mode, they are resembling Zombified/Vampirish CHUD's., right down to their wall-scaling and coordinated visceral attacks. This makes for incredibly exciting action sequences., without ever dialing down the horror quotient. Smith, for his part, does a superb job of communicating the pathos and desperation of the last man on Earth. His slow disintegration into Madness is subtly evoked, and in one particularly emotional scene, he handles one of the most tired clichés of the Zombie Genre with genuine depth. The script gives him plenty of help. Screenwriters Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman show plenty of restraint, teasing out the details of the Virus and its Outbreak over the course of the film while elegantly laying out how Neville interacts with this Post-Apocalyptic World in episodic vignettes. Ultimately, the film seems to be on the verge of asking intriguing questions about faith and humanity. While doing so, "I Am Legend" maintains the power to awe. The Production Design by David Lazan and Naomi Shohan is nothing short of amazing, rendering a Big Apple reclaimed by nature with stark realism. This film is simple breathtaking....and absolutely cannot fail you !! DO NOT MISS THIS !! This was a Long-Time Coming !! 5-Star !!Read full review
I Am Legend is ostensibly based on Richard Matheson's much-adapted 1954 science fiction novel about the last man on Earth living among vampires, but the latest version, written by Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman, directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith has a lot more in common with Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. I have to say that I think this was a pretty good movie. In comparison to the original movie, this one exceeds it with flying colors. Although it would have been better to get more information about the transformation from human to vampire like monster instead of the after effects, the movie clearly showed in ads it was based on the after effects of the disease. I dont know how any one could be that disappointed when the commercials show the jist of what the movie is about. The ending was a bit harder to predict and a little bit upsetting.Read full review
This movie is a compilation of the Omega man 1971(Charlton Heston),Resident Evil 1996-present(PlayStation)and Dawn of the dead(2004).The object of the game and the movies is to blow away zombies and not get contaminated.What I especially like about I Am Legend is that if this did actually happen in the real world government procedures were followed to the letter.They Contained the infected, set up road blocks and blew up bridges.Will Smith did a good job of showing us how crazy we would be if you were the last person around.Outstanding and very convincing special effects.Its more believable that A medical mishap or a bio-weapon could cause such a disaster than no vacancies in hell as portrayed in dawn of the dead.I give I am legend a thumbs up.
Imagine being the only person alive who is human. You have lost everything in your life and all you have is to find a cure to bring the zombies back to human. Will Smith (the main character) tries to find a cure then he finds a women and a child who have not been affected by the zombies. The humans have led the zombies to Will Smith, while he has just found the cure to turn the zombies back to human and there is nothing he can do to save himself. If you are a animal lover or a Will Smith fan, sorry to say, but it was a dissapointment that they both died, but it was a great self sacrifice movie.
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