I Am Legend

I've said it before, put Will Smith in a Sci-Fi movie and it's a winner, although I Am Legend is more horror than sci-fi, basically combining vampires and zombies, or at least the visual stylings of them, the formula still works though.

Adapted from the book by Richard Matheson and taking some cues from 28 Days Later, which itself takes some cues from The Omega Man, which in turn is adapted from the story by Richard Matheson. Apart from the stuff showing the evacuation (which is the bridge stuff in the trailer), it's a pretty low key affair, most of the film focuses solely on Dr Robert Neville (Smith) and his dog Sam, showing his deteriorating mind set and near OCD focus. It gets a little more pacy towards the climax, but again, not really with any huge set pieces, there's explosions and shit, but we're no where near Michael Bay territory, which is a good thing in this case.

It's 101 mins, a good length, in fact it felt like it ended slightly early, which is a rare thing for films nowadays, it's mostly a meandering pace, but doesn't feel slow, basically there was room for a bit more.

Any niggles, yeah a couple, one I argued with (well, discussed) my girlfriend, as she hadn't picked up on it, maybe I'm just reading it differently, I won't go into details here, but it seemed Neville was missing quite a major thing about the Night Stalkers, which I guess was maybe touched on but..

Although this is Will Smith, it's a serious Will Smith, there's a couple of his trademark cheeky chappy moments that try to squeeze through, but don't be expecting Fresh Prince vs The Vampires (note to Warner...)

In the meantime I need to find The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth.


I Am Legend - 8/10