I am Legend

[nymr83]

Will Smith ruins his rep in this horendous horror film.

Edited January 1, 2008 by Guest

[metsmarathon]

i think the critical consensus is that will smith carries the movie as far as it can be carried, to the point htat his performance is considered by some to be its one redeeming (or positive) quality. if wild wild west didn't undercut his career, i am legend surely cannot.

but i haven't seen it, so i can't say for sure.

[Guest AG/DC]

I've seen, and --- heck --- enjoyed both Independence Day and I, Robot. I think Will Smith has saved our world quite enough for now, and it's time for the rest of us to pitch in.

[TransMonk]

I saw it on New Year's Eve at an IMAX theatre.

It was a decent passage of time for 100 minutes, but not a terribly memorable film for me.

I thought Smith did a better than average job in this movie. His performances in "Ali" and "The Pursuit of Happiness" are slowly changing my opinion of his acting ability after the crap he had been putting out for the previous 15 years.

[nymr83]

as a movie i think this was even worse than wild wild west, though his performance was better in this one.

[Vic Sage]

Vic's review:

It's no OMEGA MAN, that's for sure.
and, in case you're wondering, that's not a compliment.

[metsmarathon]

i might have to get out to a theater to see this. i like movies wherein i can marvel at the technical implausibilities and logical impasses mixed in among overwrought and unneeded cgi and barrels of untapped potential.

i just read a synopsis, and it sounds like the type of movie where they try to hit a five-run home run with everything in the movie, and predictably striking out more often than not.

[TransMonk]

If you've seen Castaway, Dawn of the Dead and the 2 minutes of Vanilla Sky where Tom Cruise speeds through a deserted Manhattan, then this movie doesn't offer anything new other than mashing it all together.

In retrospect, the most interesting part of my experience was the 6 minute preview for the new Batman movie...only because I thought it was the beginning of I Am Legend. I kept thinking, "Where are they going to go with this?"

[nymr83]

i liked the batman preview. best part of the movie by far.

[soupcan]

I'm embarassed to say that I liked it.

The zombies scared the shit out of my 10 year old and his 13 year old cousin.

I liked the story and the shots of an abandoned, overgrown Manhattan were cool.

[Vic Sage]

The scenic design was really impressive.

And, as for the zombies, the whole new style of portraying them, ala 28 DAYS LATER and the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD, is indeed much scarier than they've ever been.

But the script and the storytelling left alot to be desired, dontcha think?

[soupcan]

Vic Sage wrote: But the script and the storytelling left alot to be desired, dontcha think?

I suppose, but I don't ever expect much in those areas when going to a movie of this type anyway so...

What could really be done to improve the script? He was the only guy in the movie for 90% of it. The fact that there even WAS dialogue was a feat.

The story was a bit choppy but again, I was mostly focused on the pictures.

[Willets Point]

Perhaps the zombies can moan Shakesperian soliloquies.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It was watchable. The ending was too hokey. Unmemorable, but not awful. It couldn't overcome the dumb premise, though. A virus that makes people into super-strong zombie vampires? Sheesh.

[HahnSolo]

I must have missed it in the movie, but they isolated Manhattan island so as not to let the virus escape? So did they explain how the virus left the island, or did it already do so?

[Potential spoiler below]





And if all the bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were destroyed, how did the lady and her son drive up from Maryland?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Maybe they took the Staten Island Ferry.

[nymr83]

HahnSolo wrote: I must have missed it in the movie, but they isolated Manhattan island so as not to let the virus escape? So did they explain how the virus left the island, or did it already do so? [Potential spoiler below] And if all the bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were destroyed, how did the lady and her son drive up from Maryland?

the virus escaping seemed plausible enough, its the woman getting into manhattan, with her car, that made me go "huh?"

[Edgy MD]

Turn this thread into a poll NOW!!!!

[Elster88]

This was a fun movie. The scene with the vampire dogs and the stream of light was exciting, as was the one where Will followed his dog into the dark. There was one scene that was quite sad that I won't spoil, and Will did some fine acting there. In fact, he was great for just about the entire movie, and funny talking to his "friends". (particularly the one prior to the stream of light scene) And the shots of a deserted Manhattan were cool.

There were some plot holes. The CGI on the vampires was lacking. But if you can't bring a jumpy girl to a movie like this and enjoy yourselves then you need to stop going to movies.

[metirish]

I enjoyed this movie up to and through the scene where Neville follows Sam into the dark building , thought that scene was intense, one thing, were the Zombies have a circle jerk right there?

After that it was terrible, imagining NYC like that was probably the best part of the movie for me.