I Am Legend

Okay, so I finally saw I Am Legend. To its credit, it has great production design- I heard some NYU kids were bitching about the area around their school being shut down, but I mean, seriously, suck it up. Having a street closed down for filming is irritating, but NYC offers major incentives to film in the city, so there's no use in complaining. The city, weed-choked, streets filled with abandoned cars, bombed out bridges, is impressive and visually seamless. And it has some seriously spooky moments-- the mannequins really got to me. And, to his credit, Will Smith is able to keep things moving as the only guy on screen. And like Cast Away, the sense of isolation, this time in the immense emptiness of a dead Manhattan, is overwhelming and mutes all the other emotions coming from the screen, making it otherworldly even without the zombies (I dunno what they were). I feel like that's the point, though. And there's a dog instead of a volleyball and I like the dog better.

Now the bad. The Bob Marley stuff felt a little awkward. I consider myself moderately a fan of the guy, and considering that the majority of us are probably moderate to not really a fan (like my dad, who got dragged to see the film with us), I wonder how that part carried off, especially with people who have never really listened to him. It was nice, though, to hear "Redemption Songs" during the credit, my favorite of his songs. And let's face it. It could have been worse. It coulda been Eric Clapton singing "I Shot the Sheriff." But the symbolic weight of the Bob Marley songs, as well as the butterfly and the idea of coincidence being indicative of greater plans felt glossed over, not incorporated in enough nor with enough investment. And here's where I begin the other movie comparisons. Signs does an excellent job with this idea, dealing with it throughout the film rather than just at the end and in a manner that is not as self-aware, through the characters and the filmmaking, as I Am Legend ended up.

And then, the ending, the infamous ending. Not so much the religious themes that came in (again, see Signs, no heavy-handedness or awkwardness), but rather the peppy-uppy-ness of it. Without giving anything away, both 28 Days Later (those army guys at the mansion) and the new Dawn of the Dead (haven't seen the old one, shame on me) deal with the idea better. I do hesitate to make those comparisons because the nature of each "safe zone" in each film has a lot to do with the unique plot, but I think it would have been interesting to not have to justify the "character development" (and by that I mean the you-know-what of Neville's character), and to have just chopped off the entire ending in Vermont. But then that would leave loose ends and would be no fun, I guess.

My disappointment comes with the altered nature of the Legend. The legend of Matheson's novella refers to Neville's status as a legend amongst the new vampires. In the film, it's pretty much the opposite, and has lost the chilling revelation that the book provides.

That said, there are some great scenes (running down the baddies in the car, the entire warehouse scene, the super creepy mannequins) and Will Smith, as always, puts his entire self into the job, especially interacting with the dog and everything else that isn't actually alive. I think it had more potential especially considering the source, particularly the ending, but as a movie on its own, it's fine.

Ooh, and while I did not see the film at the IMAX, I did see the Dark Knight preview and it looks rockin' but I'm still not so sure about Heath Ledger. I do trust the people making the movie, however, so we'll see.