Monday, May 26, 2008

I am Legend (2007)


3 stars out of 5

You have to like Will Smith. How do you not like him? He's one of the best leading men in Hollywood today. So I took a chance with "I am Legend", a sci-fi apocalyptic thriller that is set in New York in the near future after a virus has either killed or turned into zombie monsters most of humanity. Will Smith and his dog are hanging out in Manhattan, trying to survive and find a cure for the virus.

It's a great premise, and it is fun to think of all the things you could do if you just had an empty city all to yourself. But I didn't care for it. It has too many horror elements to be really enjoyable. Unless you like that kind of thing, it is jarring to constantly be going from soft and quiet sequences to loud and crazy scenes. And Will Smith is at his best when he is interacting with other characters. Tom Hanks managed to pull off "Cast Away" talking to a volleyball, but it gets old having Will Smith trying to converse with his dog.

Ultimately, the movie falls flat with too many long interludes of nothing happening. And the ending was not worth waiting it out for. So unless you are just a die hard Will Smith fan or into horror/monster movies, I would pass on this one.

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