First film of the New Year is Francis Lawrence’s I am Legend….
Now I wouldn’t go as far as to say this film is in the legendary bracket but it is a fairly entertaining 101 min romp nonetheless.
The plot of the film is very reminiscent to that of 2002’s 28 Days later, with a virus sweeping away the population leaving a handful of survivors to cope in it’s aftermath.
What looks like a long awaited cure for cancer using a mutated strain of the common measles virus, KV soon becomes a pandemic of horrendous proportions with 5 billion people killed outright.
A further 12 million of the population are immune to it’s affects, leaving the rest of humanity to become something else….
Whilst I think 28 Days Later is the greater of the two films, I am Legend is still worth a watch, particularly for Will Smith’s portrayal of a man slowly losing his marbles after 3 years of isolation.
It could be a big ask for an actor to carry the film alone for such a lengthy period but I believe Smith carries it off nicely. The scenes between Smith’s character Robert Neville and his faithful canine companion Sam and superbly handled and very touching.
This film can be quite easily split into to distinct pieces, the daytime scenes are at their best a top notch drama with plenty of emotion and a sense of foreboding, whereas when darkness falls the film turns into a run of the mill horror flick with just a tad too much CG.
I’m not sure as to why the CG is so prevalent in this movie as a lot of the scenes could have used and been better suited by actual people in make up, (this is one of the areas where 28 Days Later outdoes Legend).
If you are a fan of Smith this film will probably be for you, if you are a fan of 28 Days Later then 75% of this film will appeal but leave you with a sense that it could have all been done just a little bit better.
Felgercarb Rating - 7/10
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