Fillum review: I Am Legend (2007)

I was expecting this to be very similar to 28 Days Later. I wasn’t far wrong. A seemingly empty city, actually filled with “infected” humans. The story differs, however – in 28 Days Later, a few survivors band together to escape to a safe haven. Here, one man and his dog remain in the city, trying to find a cure.

The shots of the overgrown city are very well done, but would have been more believeable if the streets were jammed with taxis and other traffic. After all, New York is shown, in a flashback, being evacuated in a hurry. Where did all the cars go? Yeah, there are a few filled roads, but some are surprisingly empty. Are we to expect that Neville (played by Will Smith) spent three years clearing the way?

But it isn’t a major thing. The story is (generally) stong and the set pieces impressive. As the film progresses, you can see that Neville is actually starting to lose the plot, although it’s a shame more isn’t made of it. The “god has a reason for everything” undertones should have been lost instead, as far as I’m concerned.

I won’t go into too much more of the story, as there are two (or three) unexpected happenings and I’d spoil it if you’ve not yet seen it, but the ending was unnecessarily twee and righteous. Neville does something near the end, for completely no reason. It didn’t make sense!

However, for all of its faults, I Am Legend was still very watchable and enjoyable. Just don’t try to analyse it too much.

Verdict: 4/5