I hope this is the last incarnation of Richard Mathesons's brilliant classic. Why does Hollywood have to mess with perfection? I was anxious to see it, having read the book several times, and I'm a fan of Hollywood's first impression of the original tale, The Omega Man (1971). I've also seen 28 Days Later; On The Beach; The Stand; Fail Safe; Threads; and The Day After several times each. I guess you could say I love the Apocalypse as a theme.

I've been a fan of Richard Matheson almost since I learned how to read. Besides Rod Serling, he is the man behind many of the classic Twilight Zone stories (second only to Serling himself), and has penned other novel-to-film classics like What Dreams May Come; A Stir of Echoes; The Legend of Hell House (paralleled, if not plagiarized, by Stephen King with his Rose Red); and countless screenplays. Where American Sci-Fi fiction is concerned, he is right up there with Isaac Asimov, Michael Crichton and Ray Bradbury. Stephen King and Dean Koontz are great too and I enjoy their work, but they write pulp. Unlike Matheson, Crichton, Bradbury and Asimov, there are no lessons or morals from King and Koontz. It's just entertainment.

This brings me around to my critique of the movie I am Legend. As entertainment, it works just fine. Will Smith is just okay, like the Chevrolet of Acting. He's predictable, and does what you want him to do. He brings no depth or personality to the protagonist at all. He's just a body. As for the other actors.......well, they are mostly CGI or creatures. Oh, yeah....there's a dog too.

For the second time in film (The Omega Man being the first), Robert Neville is portrayed as US Army medical officer who is intimately familiar with and is partially the cause of the virulent disease that has turned the world into bloodthirsty homicidal maniacs. In Matheson's book, as well as in The Omega Man, there is a biological warfare element. In the current film, the virus has more benign origins, but that's all I'll say. Matheson's literary Neville is just a blue-collar guy who is smart enough to try and find an answer to the catastrophe. That theme is what made the book so compelling. No state of the art laboratory, no heavy credentials. Neville was an ordinary guy who was caught up in extraordinary circumstances. By night, he holes up in his modest but heavily fortified LA home, blasting Beethoven and getting drunk to drown out the howling hordes of quasi intelligent vampires who want to kill him. By day, he hunts them down in their lairs and kills them in their sleep. He is actually the bogeyman....the terror by day, a daymare. "Brush your fangs, junior, or Neville will come and get you in your sleep!" Think about it. What does the title I am Legend really mean? Apparently, Akiva Goldsman has a very different opinion.

Obviously, Hollywood decided long ago that CGI and special effects will trump a good story every time. Like a child's video game, imagery has become the stimulus. It was briefly interesting to see Manhattan as deserted and overgrown, but the special effects seemed to be what the movie was relying on. Take them away, and there was nothing left. Was the movie bad? Not at at all, but it would have been more accurate to title it as Home Alone 4: WTF am I doing here?. Matheson's tale was botched again. So badly in fact, it bears no resemblance to the original book. That's ashame. Call me a purist, but why does Hollywood have to rework a classic, or inject so much "artistic license" into a plot that it becomes something utterly different than what was originally created? M. Night Shamalayan showed us what is still possible with superior writing, directing, and minimal special effects. Just watch The Sixth Sense. Here we have a film that had huge potential, given over to a mediocre screenwriter/producer and a relatively unknown director whose only experience was with music videos and the forgettable bomb, "Constantine." I think that the egos, greed, and arrogant laziness of the producers and screenwriters have a lot to do with the dumbing down of great original fiction.

There are a number of key elements from the book that this film virtually ignores: The overall vampire legend itself, Neville's personal struggle to save his little family from the dust-borne plague; his undead wife returning to him; the daily vampire hunt; his former carpool buddy and neighbor, Ben Cortman, who has become his nightly nemesis; and most importantly, the near fatal "stopped watch" incident, which even The Omega Man indirectly paid homage to. All of these items would have required the screenwriter and producer to do some actual writing, rather than letting the CGI guys take over the production.

Some ironies to consider: The book itself was only about one hundred and forty-odd pages long. Three movie attempts essentially blew it. The Omega Man wasn't close either, but was far more original in execution than the current version, in my opinion. The Spaghetti thriller, The Last Man on Earth(1964) with Vincent Price, was almost perfect where the story was concerned. Unfortunately, it was so low budget that the production quality made it almost unwatchable.

Matheson spun an enduring classic in less than two hundred pages. It was the quality of the material rather than "pictures;" or special effects, that made the story. What ashame that this movie couldn't have done the same. If you're into apocalyptic Sci-Fi, you'll probably enjoy this film. But don't expect too much.

The last man on earth is not alone

Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time.

3/4
So, the movie was not as terrible as I thought it was going to be. Yes, I have read the book, and I am under the impression that when books are made into movies, the movies usually pale in comparrison to the real thing.

The opening scenes for this movie are quite extraordinary, the special effects were,infact...good! (But don't get me started on later special effects in the movie).
We first see Manhattan, as it was three years after a deadly virus has killed/mutated just about everyone on the island...except one. The streets and cars are completely abandoned, buildings have begun to collapse. A sports car races down a street, being driven by Robert Neville (Will Smith) the supposed single survivor among an entire island of humans who have perished.

With only his dog to keep him company, he lives inside a house in Greenwhich village. Every single night he seals the doors and windows, turns off the lights and remains completely silent for fear that the once human, hideous, hairless, savage killers outside will not find him. Neville keeps a lab in his basement where he tries desperatly to discover the cure.

We are unsure wether Neville really believes he is the last human alive. How do regular human beings in all their infinite shapes and sizes mutate into identical pale zombies with infinite speed and strength? Well of course, that doesn't matter. When we finally think Neville really is going to die, he is saved. But how? How did anyone find him? How did his saviours get to the island? Doesn't matter.
There are many unanswered questions in this movie, but it provides dramatic interest when needed, suspense when expected, and false suspense scenes...you know, when you think something is going to happen and it doesn't? Then you realize you have wasted precious feelings of fear.

Nontheless this movie did have a mere few memorable scenes, it made me question what will really happen in 100 years, and if that does, well lets just hope Manhattan can look as enlightening as it did in the movie.

Two thirds of this film is wonderful entertainment, both in scope and story telling, and in Will Smith we have a cracking central performance that carries the film with consummate ease, sadly the final third undoes all the great promise and tension building that had gone before it.

After a genetic engineered cancer curing virus wipes out practically all of mankind, Robert Neville {Will Smith} appears to be the sole surviving human on earth, the only company he has is the family dog and an army of virus infected mutants that can only come out in the dark. That Neville is a former scientist who is immune to the deadly strain is a bonus as it means he can work on a potential cure.

Yes it's daft, and yes it's contrived, but there sure is a lot of good stuff to enjoy before the films major failing surfaces. Firstly is Will Smith's performance, there is no doubting he is a major star these days, but here he also cements his standing as a bona fide A lister of note. He layers the performance so well, his character not only has to deal with the heavy threat of being killed by the mutants at night, he also has to fight his own isolation, mans inherent need for companionship is a tortured thing when you appear to be the sole beneficiary of gods green earth.

Secondly the setting of a barren desolate New York is eerily staggering, overgrown with foliage and stalked by lions searching for food, it really is a big screen must to embrace the scope of it. Thirdly the mutants themselves are scary enough, but they honestly would have been better served being played by human actors rather than the CGI used that brings very mixed results, and fourthly the tension building is pitch perfect, the makers manage to have you on the edge of your seat gasping for a solution to this cracking story unfolding, but then...............

They throw it all away by a rushed ending that had me positively seething, a quick turn of events should be a prelude to a fully fleshed out finale but instead we get a quick wham bam, oh The End. It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth on leaving the cinema and frankly the audience deserves better, and in fact so does Will Smith, did they run out of money? Well that I don't know, but what I do know is that we so nearly had a genre classic to look fondly on for years to come, shame that. 6.5/10

Footnote: Having just watched the alternate version that is readily available on disc formats, I have to say that as weak and as frustrating as the theatrical ending is, the alternate ending is far worse, trite and totally misplaced, they chose the better ending of the two for sure.

I know alot of people say Will Smith has been acting in alot of depressing film lately but this film deserves a standing ovation on Wills' part.

The film is about a scientist, Doctor Nevil, who tries to reverse the mistreat of a cancer vaccination that turned the world into a warfare against humans and the night seekers.

Trust me i you have not seen Will i this film you must!!!

Robert Neville is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable...and manmade. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City...and maybe the world. But he is not alone. He is surrounded by "the infected"--victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings that can only exist in the dark and that will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path. For three years, Neville has spent his days scavenging for food and supplies and faithfully sending out radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. All the while, the infected lurk in the shadows, watching Neville's every move, waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what the infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time.

If you are fan of Matheson's book prepare to be disappointed as the film entirely misses the point, especially when it comes to the title itself. Having said that, taken on it's own merits the film is not all that bad. The opening half hour is well constructed and the lingering shots of a deserted NYC are quite effective. Will Smith reigns in his usual on-screen persona to deliver a good performance as Robert Neville, although at times it does seem as though he's playing to an audience which is at odds with the permeating sense of isolation (problems with the script rather than Smith himself). Aside from it's deviation from the book, the film's most glaring problem are the dark seekers themselves. They are entirely rendered in by today's standards unconvincing cgi and therefore never quite achieve the feeling of menace we're supposed to feel. Real actors in make-up with perhaps a little cgi augmentation would've been far better. Also the attempt to create an antagonist for Neville falls a little flat, as he comes across as nothing more than a slighter smarter creature with a grudge. What does work though is Neville's relationship with his dog, Sam. Considering they spend the majority of their screen time together it was important it felt like they had a genuine bond and they do. Also Neville's flashbacks to a time shortly before the worst of the outbreak are well-implemented, never interrupting the pace of the narrative. Ultimately it's the last predictable half hour of the film that falls flat and undoes most of the good work. It's worth seeing but for all Richard Matheson fans it will be frustrating at best. In fact, for anyone who read Mark Protosevich's script that leaked online a few years back you'll probably wish they made that film instead.

This is a unique twist on an old concept with incredible acting and a storyline that sustains itself through constant action, plot development and incredible SPFX.

Accomplishing the hard feat of limting the cast and storyline to so few can be daunting but I feel they more then suceeded in making this a solid blockbuster.
A refreshing rendering of a rather tired concept breathed new life into this dying idea to produce a truly entertaining movie. Filled with action, drama and suspense the cinematoraphy and spfx surpassed what I had expected.
The editing was seamless and cohesive with a few twists and sub story plots to keep the mind alert, I would recommend this as a fairly PG13 Sci fi action flick for anyone into the apocalyptic genre