I MAY BE LEGEND

This is my last movie review for a while ... promise :)

QUICK PLOT SUMMARY
Will Smith plays Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville, a man who appears to be the last survivor of humanity. In an ironic twist of fate, the cure for cancer mutates into a virus (side effects may include death or turning you into a zombie), but Neville is mysteriously immune to the bug. The benefits of surviving this plague are suspect as Neville spends his days in a desperate cycle of foraging for supplies, trying not to be eaten by infected humans, and searching for a cure. The movie is based on a 1954 book of the same name.

MY REVIEW
As I left the theater upon viewing I Am Legend, I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. The film is certainly enjoyable, and it would be hard to argue that Will Smith doesn't deliver on all fronts. But none the less, uneasy was my mood. It wasn't until a couple hours after the film that it hit me, and I started to think about the Tom Hanks' movie Castaway. In both cases, the story centers around a man who is truly alone in the world and must learn to survive in the most hostile of environments (although, I think I'd take Hanks' situation over Smith's). The other similarity between these two vehicles is the emphasis on lack of human interaction and its negative effect on the mind. For Hanks, it is the volleyball, Wilson, that gets him through the tough times. For Smith's character, Robert Neville, it's his dog.

So, what does Castaway provide that I Am Legend lacks? Simply put, Mr. Neville could stand to catch a break or two along his journey, but no substantial victories were to be found. Now, I'm certainly not arguing that movies short on happiness are taboo, but in a film like this, you really do need to give your audience some hope intermingled with your tragedies. The moviegoer wants a reason to follow you through the adventure rather than simply experiencing two hours of physical and emotional torture. They need the hero to be, you know, heroic.

Again, I don't mean to imply the film is bad, because it's not. But it has issues. Over and above the high bummer quotient, I would also argue that it doesn't do a stellar job of paying off some of the setup. For example, the film is sprinkled with flashbacks, giving the audience some background into the events leading up to the destruction of humanity. Nothing wrong with that, right? However, the movie constantly teases us with images of Neville's important role in the virus outbreak but leaves us hanging as to what that role ultimately turned out to be.

I recently spoke to a couple friends who went to I Am Legend, and they felt the film was too short and ended abruptly. I don't necessarily share that opinion, but it would have been nice if the ending were more ... um ... satisfying.

MY RATING
3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

MY RATING WHEN I READ THAT WILL SMITH MIGHT BE A SCIENTOLOGIST
0.5 Stars (Out of 5)