Review: I Am Legend

Everyone in the world has wondered what it would be like if they were the last person on earth. Everyone has had those days when they wished everyone else would vanish and be the only person on the face of this planet. This film plays out everyone's greatest fantasy with an extra hint of danger. Will Smith stars as the military scientist Robert Neville, the last man on earth after a potential cure for cancer goes wrong turning into a dangerous virus, which turns all humans into blood sucking zombies known as the "dark seekers." Neville becomes the uncontested mayor of New York, the President of the United States, and the Supreme Ruler of the World who is immune to the virus and works constantly everyday for a cure to the virus that might revert the creatures into the humans they once were in his Washington Square bunker. Smith, along with his german sheppard, Sam, goes along on a daily routine to keep from insanity even setting up mannequins around the city to have conversations with. He spends his days hunting deer, gathering food, listening to Bob Marley, watching Shrek, and capturing "dark seekers" to perform tests on. Hope seems to be lost when Sam becomes infected leaving Smith with no choice but to end her life. Two unaffected humans come in contact with Neville claiming to be heading to Vermont where their is a unaffected colony set up, but the 'dark seekers' have another plan setting up one final siege on the Washington Square bunker.

I Am Legend is Cast Away meets 28 Days Later. The film is parallel in comparison to the Tom Hanks' led Cast Away. Smith dominates the screen for much of the film just as Hanks did in Cast Away with a few differences between the two films. Instead of a volleyball as a companion, Smith has a german sheppard. Instead of an island holding him back, Neville has man eatting zombies holding him back. Director Francis Lawerence does a good job keeping this film away from being a strictly sci-fi or horror genre and mixes them both in together to become a compelling drama. Along with his crew, he has created quite a haunting image of an empty New York City that becomes a significant character within the film itself. The CGI is the most disappointing aspect of this film. The "dark seekers" look like the mummys from The Mummy especially the way they open their mouths very wide, and the deer look similar to the deer in The Ring Two.

Will Smith provides an Oscar worthy performance (although it will never be acknowledged due to the Academy's ignorance towards these kind of movies) creating laughs, excitement, tears, and nail-biting suspense that made the whole theater jump. Smith's commitment towards the character brings out the best in his acting ability which someday will grant him with an Academy Award. After seeing the film, I Am Legend, I believe that Will Smith should have been cast as the voice for Donkey in the animated film, Shrek, instead of Eddie Murphy after Smith impressed me with his precise impersenation of the four-legged talking Donkey during this film. A hidden message is seen in this film reflecting on today's world that is said by Will Smith quoting Bob Marley: "Even the evildoers of this world don't take a day off." No matter the circumstance the good people in this world can not let their guard down to allow the evil people of this world to destroy our way of life. The good people of this world must unite to "light up the darkness."