I AM LEGEND
Reviewed by Sam Hatch
Although I have never read it, there must have been something inherently cinematic about Richard Matheson's oft-filmed 1954 novel I Am Legend. It was first lensed as the Italian production The Last Man On Earth in 1964, starring Vincent Price. Shortly thereafter the cult Charlton Heston incarnation The Omega Man hit screens in the early seventies. While the influence of these films and their literary root material continued to influence genre filmmaking, the story itself laid dormant for decades – until now. This would be the third version of the story, if not for the hastily released straight to video feature I Am Omega, starring Marc Dacascos.
This version was a long time in coming, and I remember peeking at Mark Protosevich's draft a decade ago when Ridley Scott and Arnold Schwarzenegger were the big names. While Will Smith was clearly a box-office draw at that time, I'm glad he had to wait for his opportunity to take a crack at it, lending him the maturity necessary for this kind of material. (Imagine if you will a mutated Kenneth Branagh chasing him through the city inside a giant, mechanical bat!)
Smith here plays Dr. Robert Neville, a military scientist cursed by an immunity to a well-meaning cancer vaccine that went way wrong in 2009. The film reveals key moments from these times when humanity knew not what apocalypse awaited them. Instead of dwelling on the death throes of humanity, this draft by Akiva Goldsman is more concerned with Neville's attempts at ushering his wife and child to safety before the government seals off New York City (subbing for the Los Angeles of previous versions) for good.
The rapid spreading Krippen Virus (invented by a doctor played by Emma Thompson in a blink-and-you'll-miss-her performance) makes quick work of our society, transforming humans into a vampire/zombie amalgam that haunts the dark recesses of an abandoned world. Neville chooses to remain in the New York to continue his research, with the intent of finding a cure-all from his own virus-resistant blood.
However, the film is less interested in the traditional tropes of monster lore than it is in the emotional damage incurred by a life of loneliness. Neville's only breathing friend is his daughter's dog Sam, and together they become a Mad Max-ian pair of hunters, scouring the weed-strewn boulevards of Manhattan for food and supplies before the sun goes down. The visual artistry behind these abandoned cityscapes is superb, and easily captures the inherent eeriness of a dead city. One early tour de force segment involves Robert and Sam tearing through streets in a red Mustang GT, chasing a pack of free roaming deer.
The fact that this last bit reminds me of Tyler Durden's vision of the future in Fight Club should speak volumes as to how this is not your typical Will Smith movie. He was great in last year's The Pursuit of Happyness, and while he does get to crack wise a few times here, he is simply excellent in his portrayal of this one very smart man who is so painfully close to crumbling for good. He brings to life this tortured soul whose only recollection of human behavior comes from vague memories and a collection of DVDs from the corner rental shop.
He routinely 'rents' titles from this store and holds casual conversations with the numerous dummies found within, going so far as to give them all names. Smith could run to the hills with the comedic nature of this gag, and while it does elicit laughter from the audience, he plays it so real that we ultimately recognize the sadness beneath. When he nervously summons the courage to speak to a woman mannequin (where's Kim Cattrall when you need her) and ask her out, there's a bona fide desperation in his actions that tips the hat to us that he's not just doing this for a gag – it's for the preservation of his sanity.
There's also a marvelously spooky, nail-biting excursion into the murky depths of the creatures' sleeping grounds, as Robert reluctantly chases his pet into a derelict building. It's one of those ‘don't go in there!' moments common in horror films, in which the audience fails to connect with the reasoning behind a given character's failure to flee danger. But here Smith is adept at delivering a raw glimpse into Neville's suffering, so that we know exactly why he's going in there. Even as he's apologizing to his dog for not being able to go any further, he keeps taking step after step, until he's fully entrenched in the lair of the enemy – and he's brought us along for the trip, squirming in our seats the entire way.
The only upside to this eternal loneliness, is the ephemeral ‘king of the world' experience, the novelty of which has left him by 2012, the year in which the bulk of the film transpires. Still, he has hot rides at his disposal (some rigged with cool anti-vamp UV beacons straight out of the Blade series), he gets to shoot golf balls off the wings of abandoned naval aircraft, and he's holed up in a sweet pad complete with home entertainment needs (so he can listen to Bob Marley and repeatedly watch Shrek), a small arsenal and a mega-equipped research facility in the basement. He's even rigged it with steel shutters and doors, so that it fully locks down during the dark hours when society's antithesis runs rampant outside.
Some may complain that the mutated beasties don't get much screen time until about halfway through the film, but it's all about the journey, and the amassing of suspense. Director Francis Lawrence (who did the adaptation of Vertigo Comics' Constantine, which I actually kinda liked – so sue me!) displays a knack for exploring the silence that comes naturally with a concept like I Am Legend. He's mentioned that films such as The Pianist influenced him, and it clearly shows. There are plenty of loud, shocking moments, but they're delivered with talent and craft, unlike the bulk of horror films looking for as many cheap jumps as they can grab.
My only gripe is in regards to his decision to replace the actors portraying the ‘darkseekers' (including Dash Mihok from Romeo+Juliet) with all-CGI creations. His reasons for doing so certainly make sense, but I feel they would have been much more threatening had we been able to ascertain a larger sense of their human origins. The computer-based monsters tend to be overly exaggerated creatures straight out of Stephen Somers' Mummy series. However, some fare better than others, the best of the bunch being a woman vampire kept hostage by Neville in his laboratory (which almost feels like a nod to a scene from Return of the Living Dead).
The best element of the original story is its subjugation of traditional hero and monster roles, and while this version of I Am Legend resists following that thread to its logical endgame, it nonetheless examines the concept throughout. We're repeatedly asked to side with Neville, but if traditional humanity has ended and this one man continually plagues the 'lives' of those who survived through mutation, is his dedication to 'curing' them a noble one? This evolves into a personal vendetta between Neville and one of the leading vampires.
Neville also grows so distant from what he once was, that he eventually fails to recognize overt traits of human behavior in the actions of his enemies. (Or does he simply suppress it?) It's another example of the tried and true technique of humanizing the monsters, but in this case it's more of a subtle monsterification of the man. Neville yearns for nothing more than meaningful contact with another person, but would he really be able to handle such a thing at this point?
While this film does eventually move towards a bit of Hollywood ending (but just a bit), it is still loaded with bleakness. While a small film like 28 Weeks Later can clearly get away with it, a big-budget Will Smith holiday tent pole feature stands to lose much more by subjecting the audience to such an unrelenting, harrowing experience. While it could have used a bit less CGI and a few more balls during the final stretch, it's an artistically solid film that serves as a great showcase for how much Smith has grown as an actor. It's already been a great year for the genre film, but now there's a horror blockbuster to join the ranks!
And for fans of the comic book genre, you'll be pleased to learn that this film promises a Superman/Batman team-up movie to hit in a few years. The bad news is that you'll all be dead or mutated before you get to see it. Sorry. Blame Emma Thompson.