[Movie Review] I Am Legend

[tdinc]

I read the Graphic Novel and I when I saw the first trailer I was skeptical. but I like Smith in this role. I believe he has left out his usual goofy style of humor and shows the emotion to make this a greagt movie well worth seeing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wglxc7hu9jg

 

[Sazar]

Re: I Am Legend

He wasn't very funny in 6 degrees of separation either, which is why I LOVE Will Smith and his ability to just play the part.

Yes, he is over the top sometimes, but I have yet to find him annoying in any movie

 

[BouncingSoul]

Re: I Am Legend

Great book, hope the movie lives up to it.

 

[gonaads]

Re: I Am Legend

Looks to be a good movie. I have always liked the way Will Smith acts. He has his moments of over done but all in all he is a good actor.

 

[kcnychief]

Re: I Am Legend

I didn't read the book and haven't heard of this before I saw the trailer. He's an amazing actor though IMO, I would see it just because he's in it.

 

[Sazar]

Re: I Am Legend

Does your wife know this? Or of the blended midgets in your closet you sick, sick bastid.

 

[kcnychief]

Re: I Am Legend

Actually at the time of my post my wife was blending with the midgets

 

[Howling Wolf]

Re: I Am Legend

I can't wait to see the movie, I read and loved every Richard Matheson's novels and short-stories (Hell House, Bid Time Return,...)

 

[Grandmaster]

Re: I Am Legend

When I first saw the trailer I almost peed myself. Looks savage

 

[Erbmaster]

Re: I Am Legend

From that trailer, the film looks like it's going to be awesome

 

[Sazar]

Just finished watching the movie, sort of a busy movie week for me as I just watched The Mist last night

Anyways, I went in with as open a mind as I could simply because I try not to get tainted by bull posted by people who have different tastes than I have.

I was pleasantly surprised by the movie because it was not what I thought it would have been. To truly appreciate the situations and surroundings of the protagonist, you really have to watch this movie by yourself in a dark room with NO other sounds. The audience I watched it with ruined some moments for me simply because of a few people's reactions

I thought the deliberate pacing of the first third of the movie. The middle was too rushed with too many plot elements introduced and kind of tacked on almost. The ending was fitting given the various clues and nuanced suggestions of the protagonist and other plot elements but it still seemed rushed.

All in all, I was satisfied but had the latter half of the movie just developed along the manner the first half had, I think there could have been a lot more achieved.

Will Smith did a tremendous job. A Tom Hanks he is not but he is believable and did a good job in portraying his character.

4/5 OSNN stars and I am being VERY generous here. Reason == first part of the movie and acting.

 

[tdinc]

Saz, so what you are saying is bottom line, its better to watch this on blu-ray in my living room on my HDTV. :suprised:

 

[Sazar]

I am very particular about movies. I am PAYING for entertainment that I expect to entertain me. Most movies, I am very happy about sitting with others but the first 40-50 minutes of the movie need to be enjoyed without retards spoiling it.

 

[gonaads]

I must say this movie was a departure from Smith's other works. Very well acted in deed. And the way he plays it that after 3 years he is loosin it a bit at times but still can snap back. The movie will make anyone that likes to "think" really take a hard look at the way we create drugs to "help" us but with the "side effects" that at times can out weigh the good they do. Good movie all around, for me well worth price of admission. Now an interesting thing is when he's hunting a Deer going through Time Square and at one point in the background there are large movie posters on the billboards like you normally see there. Did anyone notice the Batman/Superman one? Hmmmm... Could it be a hint toward a possible movie? The Dark Knight Returns. ... [Batman vs Superman]?

Alas, not. Well so they say.

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/12/03/batman-vs-superman-coming-in-2009-but-will-we-live-to-see-it/

Hey, I can dream.

 

[greentea]

I agree that the movie is very well acted in deed.

 

[Grandmaster]

Yeah, Smith does some great acting in the movie. But the ending was a let down, tbh.

3/5 Stars

I'll explain later... have a final exam to tend to in a couple hours

 

[muzikool]

I'm with Sazar on this, and probably Omar as well by the looks of it. I need to watch it again to really put my finger on it, but some things about the final half or final third of the movie disappointed me. I don't think the pacing was consistent based on how things were setup in the first half of the movie, and I felt like there was a lot of valuable information that was never really shared with the audience. It turned into more of a genre film by the end, and I was hoping for more than that. Will Smith was great, but not enough on his own to make me give it a higher rating.

3.5/5 OSNN Stars

 

[Grandmaster]

Will Smith does a terrific job portraying a man that thinks he is humanity’s last hope; a man who seems to be just barely sane after traumatically losing his family, friends, co-workers, and every single person he’s every known. It’s an interesting situation. So the best parts of the movie are the moments when we get to see how Robert Neville is able to cope with his dystopian life. In those moments we get to feel what it would be like to be the last human on Earth.

But let’s get to aggravating ending. If you haven’t seen the movie and plan to see it, I highly suggest you read the rest of this entry after you’ve done that. If you’ve seen the movie or if you just don’t care about being spoiled, then continue.

Spoiler

I don’t want to get into too much detail, but I’ll say this: Fine, it’s a movie about a dystopian future featuring zombies that were created by a mutation causing virus, so a little suspension of disbelief is warranted. But the ending made no ****ing sense!

I think the movie makers missed an opportunity with regards to Neville’s realization that the zombies are getting smarter and slowly evolving some sort of cognitive ability. How cool would it have been to see Neville and alpha zombie to reach some sort of understanding? I thought the movie was heading into that direction during the final medical lab scene with the captured lady zombie. Something with more substance could have happened between Neville and alpha zombie instead of Neville’s Al-Qaeda reaction.

Instead we got a cookie cutter “heroic death” followed by glimpses of a lame survivor community that seemed to be made up of the Amish. I guess that explains why the community felt a minimally fortified steel door would be enough to hold back hordes of zombies with super strength.

Ultimately, I Am Legend starts off well thanks to Will Smith’s talent but derails because of a disappointing ending.

 

[gonaads]

Will Smith does a terrific job portraying a man that thinks he is humanity’s last hope; a man who seems to be just barely sane after traumatically losing his family, friends, co-workers, and every single person he’s every known. It’s an interesting situation. So the best parts of the movie are the moments when we get to see how Robert Neville is able to cope with his dystopian life. In those moments we get to feel what it would be like to be the last human on Earth.

But let’s get to aggravating ending. If you haven’t seen the movie and plan to see it, I highly suggest you read the rest of this entry after you’ve done that. If you’ve seen the movie or if you just don’t care about being spoiled, then continue.

Spoiler

I don’t want to get into too much detail, but I’ll say this: Fine, it’s a movie about a dystopian future featuring zombies that were created by a mutation causing virus, so a little suspension of disbelief is warranted. But the ending made no ****ing sense!

I think the movie makers missed an opportunity with regards to Neville’s realization that the zombies are getting smarter and slowly evolving some sort of cognitive ability. How cool would it have been to see Neville and alpha zombie to reach some sort of understanding? I thought the movie was heading into that direction during the final medical lab scene with the captured lady zombie. Something with more substance could have happened between Neville and alpha zombie instead of Neville’s Al-Qaeda reaction.

Instead we got a cookie cutter “heroic death” followed by glimpses of a lame survivor community that seemed to be made up of the Amish. I guess that explains why the community felt a minimally fortified steel door would be enough to hold back hordes of zombies with super strength.

Ultimately, I Am Legend starts off well thanks to Will Smith’s talent but derails because of a disappointing ending.

Now remember why it all goes south in the end.

Spoiler

Neville took a zombie woman to test on. It was Alpha Zombie's woman. That is why the whole thing went south and the ending is as it is. With Neville doing the head butt boom boom into Alpha Zombie. The movie gives us a small glimpse into the whole Zombie society structure that is beginning to evolve thanks to Alpha Zombie and the taking of the female Zombie. It's animalistic at best. But Smith's character doesn't pay attention to this. His mind is still borderline with all the flashbacks and years of isolation. He even refuses to believe that there exists a surviver community. And a community of Amish? Come on. You don't get enough of a glimpse to see what the community is or how fortified they are.

My thoughts anyway.

 

[Sazar]

Spoiler

Per the book, he was supposed to die. No cheesy "oh, they are all happy" ending would have sufficied.

Also, we don't see any indication that the woman is the alpha male's woman. Only that they are learning simply because of the fact that Neville has grabbed a fair few number of them for experimentation. The alpha doesn't come to get his woman to Neville's place, he comes to destroy the living.

The plot holes for me started with the introduction of Anna. If she had indeed been at the pier all day, why had she not met Neville who was ALSO at the pier for a fair bit of time that same day, waiting for the zombies to emerge? He didn't just show up, he had been there waiting.

And it just goes downhill from there.

The ending actually is a fitting one considering the Bob Marley song. Keep that in mind Yes, it was a bit of a cop-out but the manner of his going out goes directly with the song that was played repeatedly with Neville and Sam and Neville's explaining of things to Anna from his perspective.

Neville's refusal of a community is also not far-fetched. He has lived alone for about 3 years. There is undoubtedly some paranoia and pessimism as he has seen his fellow man fall and be exterminated for so long. Couple that with the fact that he is hurt and obviously feverish and you have the perfect recipe for delusional thinking.