[Movie Review] I Am Legend

[Perris Calderon]

perris =>

Spoiler

In the novel (from what I've been told), Neville is actually the "bad guy". The zombies think of him as a "Legend" because he keeps on taking their "people". In the book Neville is actually the last man alive... meaning no other survivors. And he's not this super soldier/brilliant scientist with a state-of-the-art lab.

so gm

Spoiler

in the movie he thinks he's the last man alive but he's not, the only license taken is not license at all, how could he know as a fact he's the only survivor, he couldn't, so the book only adds at the end that nevil was wrong and others survived. this is not changing the ending it's adding to it

as far as what the zombies think, this is exactly the same, the zombies think he's the bad guy for just that, he keeps taking their people, same thing.

so in the movie he has a state of the art lab and in the book it's a pedestrian lab?

why would that be, he can have whatever lab he wants is the first thing...I assume he's doing some kind of research, why else is he taking zombies?

the second, my impression as I sat in the theatre, that is one piece meal lab so I got a differant take then most people I suppose

his lab is hardly state of the art, he's injecting manually, he's got ancient gurneys, he's recording and documenting manually, he doesn't have an isolation room for tech and patient, and while he's imune from the virus as it stands, the virus clearly evolves and he should surely have a bubble with robotic automated sanitary disposal, all absent...

I don't see this as a state of the art at all but a lab piece mealed together by a man that can have whatever he wants

so if in the book he's not a scientist, why is he taking zombies?

how does he die in the novel?...is there no cure at the end of the novel?

 

[BouncingSoul]

In the book...

Spoiler

Neville is a regular Joe, not a government super scientist. His lab is cobbled together from parts he has stolen (is it stealing if everyone is dead?) from places in town. In the end he is sentenced to death by the vampires since he spent the entire book going into homes and killing them. The novel is excellent, my description is not.

In the movie ..

Spoiler

how did the lady and kid drive into and out of NYC if they blew up all the bridges and all the tunnels are jammed with cars and dead people?

 

[Perris Calderon]

In the book...

Spoiler

Neville is a regular Joe, not a government super scientist. His lab is cobbled together from parts he has stolen (is it stealing if everyone is dead?) from places in town. In the end he is sentenced to death by the vampires since he spent the entire book going into homes and killing them. The novel is excellent, my description is not.

In the movie ..

Spoiler

how did the lady and kid drive into and out of NYC if they blew up all the bridges and all the tunnels are jammed with cars and dead people?

Spoiler

well, as far as I am concerned that was a good description of his lab in the movie so that's not off the book at all in my opinion, however the rest of your discription is differant, in the book he was trying to kill this new breed of man, these vampires, he wasn't only trying to cure them, I get it now, in the book the vampires were still sentient and inteligent, understanding justice, in the movie, not so much

and the women with child came by boat

 

[AllWeatherGal]

awesome thread, you guys ... it really helped resolve some of my issues with the movie.

I completely agree with Sazar's thoughts on pacing. It nearly ruined the movie for me since so much time was devoted (well) to setting a mood and ... I might have found it more satisfying had the story ended the way it began, with the existential ~whatever~ still intact.

Spoiler

I was surprised that Neville didn't catch onto the evolution/growth, it seemed so obvious to me, and I also found the superhuman strength thing annoying. At the same time, I think that a reconciliation with the alpha male and plot development towards cooperation/salvation needed WAY too much time to develop and without it (maybe this would have been better as a miniseries?), actually, I found the "recognition" sort of trite.

In fact, everything after the moment Neville sees the moved dummy (whose name I've forgotten) it just went downhill for me.

I may be in the minority, but I didn't find the physique shots at all troublesome 🙂 Not even a little bit.

Will Smith is a powerful talent and the dog(s) who portrayed Sam were beautifully expressive.

 

[Sazar]

Spoiler

Ok guys, especially Perris. This is an updated movie with obvious liberties taken to update the story which was written a LONG time ago. I think the adaptation works in today's setting and is believable. This is why I think the movie worked so well for the first 2/3rd's or so.

Perris, he is a SOLDIER. His training and his experiences over 3 years, which aren't explained in depth, but then again, they don't have to be given all the clues all over the place, REQUIRE him to be fit and he works out to fill in the time. He has a routine, he follows it to a T. Food, exercise, hunting, waiting for people to show up, research, cleaning up and lock-down.

His last man on earth belief is simple to understand from his conversations with Anna. Remember how he said that the Darkseekers had destroyed everyone? He has a radio and broadcasts and I would assume he receives signals too and he has more than likely not received anything for a LONG time.

Since he has received no broadcasts, it is simple to assume that he feels alone. Than there is the sense of paranoia and disbelief stemming from his injury/bloodloss/loss of best friend scenario and this is played out in the scene where he speaks along with Donkey from the Shrek movie.

@ Allweathergal, the explanation I would have for his blase attitude towards evolving emotions and structure could be rooted to his denial of things based on all that has befallen the world. Given how he is looking to cure the illness and that is his lifes devotion, he may not have the time or the drive to research the other instincts more fully. He knows what he needs to survive and that is about all that he needs.

As such, it is believable. The vampires seem to hunt like wolves so having a pack chief is acceptable and keeping information on them to a minimum actually helped me bond better with the main character/s.

The Anna angle just destroyed all the positives and I REALLY hope there is an alternate ending on a DVD coming out sometime without the Utopian crap we saw

 

[Perris Calderon]

Spoiler

saz, I knew he was a soldier, working out doesn't mean they need to show his abs tits and shoulders, sorry, a nice gymnastic routine would have done the trick much better with no doubt, better, running obstacles in the city with some gymnatic thingys thrown in, didn't need the beefcake shot in a serious movie, it was clearly gratuitous for his sake and for weathergirls sake, possibly for your sake too but me no know about that stuff *g*

everything else you say makes sense, but really, I work out, do you need to see my tits?...I hope not but if you do there are a few posters of me somewhere... don't ask me to find them for you

 

[Sazar]

Perris, I think you are a little insecure in your masculinity m8 🙂

could be but I don't need to see will's tits...he can look at mine if he wants

 

[Grandmaster]

LOL @ all the dudes made all uncomfortable by the "beefcake" shot.

 

[Perris Calderon]

LOL @ all the dudes made all uncomfortable by the "beefcake" shot.

not uncomfortable, when on date I love taking date to see beefcake shots, makes womenz appreciate me so much more

this is not supposed to be beefcake movie...would not have thought seeing the girl in cheesecake shot was any better and I thought the great bod of the zombie was rediculous

just gratuity here, took from the flick...this was an ego thing for will

 

[Perris Calderon]

Perris, I think you are a little insecure in your masculinity m8 🙂

could be but I don't need to see will's tits...he can look at mine if he wants

all fun pulling each others chain, ...I personally enjoyed the flick, I probably would have enjoyed it less if I read the book, would not have enjoyed it more if there was no beefcake or cheesecake shot, I understand will wants to show off his bod, he's doing it in all his flicks lately, no big deal, he'll get over it

last question

Spoiler

in the book, did he find a cure?

 

[Sazar]

Negative ghost rider.

 

[Dark Atheist]

Spoiler

film is crap

😀

 

[tdinc]

As promised, I have seen the film and will throw out my opinion.

1) Read book and Graphic novel first
2) The Fresh Prince does a nice job in the role.
3) Film way too short.
4) I agree with Saz, Second half of Movie becomes choppy and many un-answered questions.
5) all in all I enjoyed the movie, and Looking forward to the Blu-Ray version when it comes out.

3 out of 4 stars