The Third Draft

I Am Legend (2007)                                      Back to Reviews
by Coach Patton
©D. Patton, All Rights Reserved

Directed by:
Francis Lawrence

Written by:
Akiva Goldsman-screenplay (rewrite)
Mark Protosevich-screenplay (Adaptation)
John William-source material (screenplay: The Omega Man)
Joyce Hopper Corrington-source material (screenplay: The Omega Man)
Richard B. Matheson-source material (novel:"I Am Legend")

Running Time: 1:40 Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.

PLOT: Will Smith plays (as far as his character knows) the last man on earth, our hero, Robert Neville, a sole survivor of a world dominating virus created by man, that initially takes out 588 million people in 2009, and was originally created to somehow cure cancer. In 2012, Neville (a former scientist) dedicates his life to surviving for the sake of the human race, since he's somehow immune to the virus and those who have been infected, and attempts to find a cure.

Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Charlie Tahan  

Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable and man-made. 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 who can only exist in the dark and who 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.

 I am Legend, the third cinematic adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel, has been in development for a very long time. Originally slated to star Arnold Schwarzenegger and be directed by Ridley Scott, this movie has kicked around for so long that by the time it has finally reached the screen, Schwarzenegger is out of the business altogether and the director is someone whose career in music videos hadn't even started when Michael Bay was being touted as possible replacement for Scott. Nevertheless, all these years later, we finally have this new version of I am Legend, starring Will Smith as the Last Man on Earth and directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine).

I suppose it's a common fantasy--believing that you're alone on the planet. The reality, if it ever happened, would be more the stuff of nightmares. When Matheson wrote "I Am Legend," from which this movie takes its name, its main character, and certain events and themes, he was interested in exploring the hard aspects of what this kind of existence might really mean. Loneliness can drive a person slowly insane even if they guard against it. That lies at the core of I am Legend--the psychological torment endured by the protagonist. That, and "The Infected.”

Matheson's book has often been credited as the "inspiration" for many of the modern-day zombie movies; his "infected" have a kinship with George A. Romero's dead.

It’s the end of the world as we know it--again--but Hollywood’s emphasis is horrifically, hauntingly different for this movie outing. There are no invading aliens blowing up our cities and landmarks, no mushroom clouds, none of the usual markers we’ve come to expect from the cinematic apocalypse. There is, instead, nothing. No noise: the world without us, without humans, is bone-chilingly quiet. No people: we don’t know for quite a while what the hell has happened to turn New York City so distressingly desolate. There aren’t even any corpses littering the streets, like we might expect were an almost inescapably virulent bug to cut a wide swathe through humanity, as it is hinted early in the film is the case. There is only Robert Neville, alone in the vastness of New York, and his German shepherd, Sam.

As Tom Hanks did in Cast Away, Will Smith pulls off this half-insane role perfectly. Of course, in addition to being alone, Robert has other crosses to bear. He is hunted by the living dead. He carries a weight of guilt. And he knows, on one level or another, that he is responsible for what happened to his wife and daughter. Smith nails the portrayal. It's not the kind of work that will earn him an Oscar nomination but audiences usually don't see better than this in genre films.

Science fiction fans hoping for a faithful adaptation of Matheson's novel will again be disappointed. This is no more a visitation of the source material than its predecessors, The Last Man on Earth (1964) or The Omega Man (1971), were. The updates are timely--the movie makes the suspension of disbelief curve as easy to ascend as it was in Children of Men. For me, the most engaging aspects of the movie are connecting with Robert and understanding how he uses routine to survive each day. It's seeing the empty New York and understanding how its desolation offers both solace and pain. For the most part, the action sequences work--and they are directed in a straightforward manner that thankfully does not rely on fast cuts and shaky camera movement--but they are not the real reason to see this movie. Cautionary tale though it might be, I am Legend offers a window into a future that probably won't be but that is easily believed within the context of this workmanlike motion picture.

It’s a science fiction spin on the aforementioned Cast Away: Tom Hanks’ plane-crash survivor knew the whole world of six billion people was still out there waiting for him to return, but Neville has been alone in New York for three years, and his regular daily radio broadcast pleading for other survivors to make themselves known has gone unanswered. For all he knows, he is the last person alive on the planet.

It is magnificently disturbing. Director Francis Lawrence has made only a single prior feature film, 2005’s Constantine (of which I’m in a minority in actually liking), but here he gives us a masterful rendering of a city stripped of its soul. He shot in un-fakeable real Manhattan locations dressed both up and down: buildings are draped in quarantine plastic; streets are broken up with weeds; some cars are still placidly parked along city streets but others choke highway escape routes near bridges and tunnels. Most pathetically, Christmas wreaths and decorations still festoon the city. The plague struck in the middle of the holiday season, and ran its course so quickly that it’s as if everyone just up and left, the collapse happened that fast. It is troublesome to see so vibrant a place now so barren of life and spirit. There isn’t even a soundtrack. Lawrence eschews a musical score for his apocalypse. There is no sound in this NYC except what Neville makes himself.

The few flashbacks to the beginning of the end--the scenes of the attempts to evacuate Manhattan are intense, as awful any New Yorker has imagined in the event of a real catastrophe--only underscore Neville’s plight. He was a military doctor, we learn then, and he was involved in trying to find a cure. He’s still working, in the fortified basement laboratory of his fortified Washington Square townhouse, searching for a vaccine for the virus.

Why? Did I say there was no sound in NYC except what Neville makes himself? Well, I won’t spoil anything for those unfamiliar with Matheson’s novel, but when Neville shuts up house for the night, he turns the place into a fortress complete with steel shutters on the windows. For there is something out there in the dark, and it makes a terrible, hungry noise . . .

The world is over. Herds of deer have the run of Park Avenue. The ghosts of the old world speak from Neville’s generator-powered iPod and DVD, but they are only ghosts. He is squeezed between those ghosts and their legacy screaming in the dark, and I am Legend puts us right the dreadful middle of that squeeze. It’s an enthralling -- if not entirely pleasant -- experience. Or at least that’s How It Seemed from Where I Sat.

WHAT'S IT WORTH?
For film buffs: The price of the evening shows
For the average viewer: Matinee price at your local cinema.

ROLL CREDITS:
Director: Francis Lawrence
Screenplay: Mark Protosevich & Akiva Goldsman,
based on the 1971 screenplay by
John William Corrington & Joyce Corrington,
based on the novel by Richard Matheson
Cinematography: Andrew Lesnie
Music: James Newton-Howard
CAST:
Will Smith -- Robert Neville
Alice Braga -- Anna
Charlie Tahan -- Ethan
Salli Richardson -- Zoe
Willow Smith -- Marley
Dash Mihok -- Alpha (infected) Male
Joanna Numata -- Alpha (infected) Female

FADE TO BLACK
In The Name Of Truth, Justice and In the Service of A Higher Good, I Remain Your Friend, Movie Reviewer and Spiritual Advisor, Coach Patton.

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