"I Am Legend" Tries Valiantly, But Falls Short

I read this brilliant book by Richard Matheson years ago, so when I heard a third version of a remake was coming out, I was intrigued.

Amazingly, this film was began nearly 13 years ago. After Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas were considered for the lead role of Robert Neville, the studio inked Arnold Schwarzenneger to headline the film. Production on "I Am Legend" was slated to begin in 1997 in Houston, but an enormous budget and fiscal concerns ground it to a halt. Five years later, Will Smith was tabbed for the lead role and shooting was once again supposed to start, but disagreements over the director would derail the project once more. After so many false starts, the question became whether the film would ever get made, but eventually, shooting took place and production was completed.

The book takes place in Los Angeles, but this version is set in New York City. The story revolves around a cancer cure devolving into a virus that wipes out 85% of the Earth’s population, rendering the survivors into vampire-like creatures called “Dark Seekers,” who must avoid the light all day but come out in a frenzy at night. Smith brings a lot of emotion to the role … enough to make you wonder if he is slowly losing his mind as a result of a lack of human interaction. Conveniently, Neville happens to a virologist who was heading up the task force charged with containing the spreading virus, and as the sole survivor (he thinks), he continues to capture Dark Seekers to try different antiviruses and cures on them. At one point, he begins to see some change in behavior with one of the cures, and after he catches another Dark Seeker and tests it, the movie begins to change. I have read that the one he captures, “Alpha Female,” is supposed to be the girlfriend of the “Alpha Male,” the leader of the Dark Seekers. This sparks vengeful attacks on Neville, but it wasn’t made readily apparent in the movie that the two Dark Seekers are an item. Beyond that, the only interesting thing about this plot line is that the Alpha Female’s breasts (played by Joanna Numata) should be nominated for Bust Supporting Actress(es).

The most poignant moment of the film is when Sam, the dog, best friend and only other life form Neville is capable of interacting with, is affected by the virus and has to be killed by Neville’s own hands. It is a heartbreaking scene; enough so that a woman in the theater where I was broke into a sobbing fit during and afterward.

The other moment that stood out to me was when Neville quoted Bob Marley as a way to describe why he identified so closely with the Rastafarian:

“He had this idea. It was kind of a virologist idea. He believed that you could cure racism and hate ... literally cure it, by injecting music and love into people's lives. When he was scheduled to perform at a peace rally, a gunman came to his house and shot him down. Two days later, he walked out on that stage and sang. When they asked him why, he said, ‘The people who are trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness.’”

It’s a great quote, but I can’t find it attributed to Marley anywhere other than in the film. Beyond that, this is an above-average film that fell far short of the bar that the book set. You seldom see movies that are less than two hours anymore, and this one’s length of an hour and 41 minutes contributed to a sense that the ending was contrived, abrupt, simplistic and far too optimistic. A memorable flick, to be sure, and visually stunning at times, but unworthy of the book and it leaves you wanting more … and better.