A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: I Am Legend

Date Viewed: 12/30/07

Details:

Will Smith

Alice Braga

Charlie Tahan

Salli Richardson

Willow Smith

Emma Thompson (cameo)

Director: Francis Lawrence

Score: +

The Review: Excellent tour-de-force for Will Smith, as Legend is essentially a one-man show.

The time: the indefinite but not too far-off future. The place: Manhattan. The problem: In the process of creating a viral cure for all forms of cancer (we see Emma Thompson as the much-lauded researcher in the opening scenes, in retrospect), a variant soon evolves that proves fatal to all mammals. Well, not quite all, since there seem to be some rare cases of natural immunity. And not quite fatal, since the transformation is much less kind than death. Dr Robert Neville (Smith) is one of the military researchers obsessed with finding a cure, who has insisted on working at ground-zero for a variety of reasons that become clear as the film proceeds.

As the scene opens, he is alone but for his trusty German Shepard. He has been alone for a long time, talking only to his digital recorder and dog. A very long time. As things proceed, you begin to wonder whether he's still sane, and how much of what we view from his perspective is real.

The transformation of New York City into an empty, overgrown, spooky wasteland is remarkable. A bit of suspension of disbelief is required to overlook either the persistence of some city services (totally unattended) or their designation as unnecessary.

From the exceptional short novel by Richard Matheson -- written in 1954, situated in the then-future 1976, and surprisingly prescient! However, this version recasts the general plot, the underlying science, and the meaning of the title ("... Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"). And version it is: at least two prior film versions have appeared. Even the screenplay credits cite the screenwriters from the 1971 Omega Man film (with Charlton Heston). But missing is any evidence that The Last Man on Earth (1964, with Vincent Price) ever existed. This may be a well-deserved obscurity -- but Legend deserves to live a long time.

(31-Dec-07)

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