it is rare that we get the chance to see any movies, least of all new ones, so we were glad of the chance to see I Am Legend over the weekend, coming as it did with rather going reviews, both printed and word of mouth. whereas we were not exactly disappointed with it, it wasn't exactly the most mindblowing film we could have commenced watching films in 2008 with. as ever, i will try to be careful with my review, but for the sensitive souls out there, consider a *** SPOILER WARNING *** to be in place for the rest of this post!!the plot, if for some reason you have missed it, is that of Will Smith being left as the last human on earth, at least as far as he knows. the rest of the population has been wiped out, or made "less than human" shall we say, by a manmade virus that only Will appears to be entirely immune from. as it happens, he also appears to be some sort of chemical / medical wizard, and spends his days trying to find a cure from his immune blood to save those that are now "less than human" and wander the world at night.
to give any more of the plot may spoil it; thus no more from me. it's an interesting story, but it has all been done before. the same novel has been filmed twice, in the 50's as Last Man On Earth with Vincent Price, and then in the 70's with the excellent Charlton Heston as The Omega Man. this 3rd version benefits from some dazzling special effects that are obviously way ahead of what the other two had, and for the most part takes advantage of that to deliver a great looking film. having said that, most will notice that the "less than human" characters have more than a passing resemblance to the robots from Will Smith's last Sci Fi outing, i, Robot. this proves to be a rather distracting similarity.
at some 90 minutes the film is relatively fast paced and entertaining, but outside of the two previous versions, the film is on more or less the same ground as three recent films; those being Dawn Of The Dead, 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. this film is nowhere near as violent as those three, but shares enough shocks and scares to make it as equally unsuitable for anyone yet to hit the teenage years (sorry for the parent in me!). on that note, i believe there are some comments around the world that this film has been given a relatively low age certificate. this is a mistake - at heart this is a horror film, and there are some disturbing images and sequences, irrespective of the fact that they are not graphically violent. i would dare to say that the film should not be shown to anyone under 15, no matter what any censor or film board says.
overall, i have to give this film a distinctly average review. it's good entertainment and Will Smith is as watchable here as he is in just about all that he does, but the fact that we have seen this type of story so many times of late means that your mind just wanders off to memories most of the time.
if you get the chance to see it, i suppose there are worse ways of spening ninety odd minutes of your life, but i would not suggest any great urgency in seeking the chance to see it. sorry Will, better luck next time.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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