I am Legend (2007) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

USA 2007
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith, Darrell Foster
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 11 December 2007
Running Time: 1 hour 41 minutes

The Movie Review

I am Legend film still 1


I AM LEGEND
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

Doomsday...People have always been fantasized about the final day of mankind. They have imagined and worried about a lot of daunting things, things that are sometimes logical or even close to reality and things that are simply mere phobias.

Hollywood has also been making any kind of movies concerning the Doomsday. Some of them are poorly executed and some of them stand out. Today I am going to review another movie about doomsday, it's called "I am Legend", a movie headlined by Will Smith, a movie that will become one of the best movies this year.

I am Legend follows the story of a sole survivor Dr. Robert Neville (will Smith) in the current year of 2012 and inserted with a series of flashbacks back in year 2009.

In year 2009, the New York City is in the brink of extinction after a cure for cancer developed by a brilliant scientist has gone awry and turns the once cured patients into mutants with a thirst for blood. Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) who is also a scientist for the Army takes his family to the port of Manhattan for a mass evacuation of all New York City residents, but Robert insists on staying in New York to help find the cure.

In year 2012, Dr. Robert Neville is the only one left alive thanks to his immunity to the disease. He roams the city alone only with his dog Samantha while trying to find any survivor in his new empty world...

Now, have you seen Tom Hanks' movies such as The Terminal (2004) and Cast Away (2000)? Both of them share a similar theme. Secluded in one big place, at the airport or in the island. Both also relies on the acting performance of the lead actor. So is the case in I am Legend, ninety-nine percent of the time it features Will Smith, therefore this movie heavily depends on the performance of Smith. I'm glad to say, he is able to give good performance.

From the start I am Legend is already enthralling with its empty New York City set. Somehow just by seeing the scenery of the empty New York City will got you thinking and imagining, I myself imagined what if my home town had got abandoned like that. Just for your information, I am Legend is not heavy on gore like other zombie movies; it's mostly about the reflection of reality that a single man must face in the empty city. The emotional bond between a man and his only companion, the almost twisted mind of a lonely man. If you were in his position, you will be grateful for whatever kind of woman you have beside you right now.

However...there are some notable drawbacks that really distort the tone of the film itself. The CGI-effects are just awful for a big-budgeted film and the zombies are plain generic, for the veteran zombie movies aficionados, those creepy zombies and dog-zombies in I am Legend are just downright silly. I do admire the set of the wild growing grass all over the city, it's realistic unlike 28 Weeks Later (2007) (released a few months earlier than I am Legend) where the grass is still short when the city is supposed to be abandoned entirely.

As I stated earlier, simply put I am Legend is the sci-fi version of Cast Away, it's heavy on the character development and light-but-good in actions. I am Legend is a serious and depressingly good doomsday movie.

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com