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It shows how strongly Will Smith's star is shining at present that he can take the weight of a $150-million-plus blockbuster entirely on his shoulders. Like the similarly huge-at-the-time Tom Hanks in Cast Away, Will Smith is the only human in I Am Legend for the majority of the running time. His only company is his dog Sam. After three years of isolation, Robert Neville (Smith) has become to anthropomorphise his canine companion, speaking to her like a human and feeding her the same meals that he eats. The pair live in the abandoned post-virus-epidemic New York City, surviving by ransacking buildings for food and hunting the local wildlife. Abandoned, that is, except for those unfortunate people who have become infected by the virus and live a vampire-like existence, vulnerable to sunlight and attracted to human blood.
So far, so 28 Days Later, at least as far as the deserted urban environment goes, but I Am Legend - the third film based on Richard Mathieson's novel of the same name; the previous film adaptations were called The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man - has a far larger budget to play with and makes maximum use of that to create a compelling setting. Many of the images are so filled with details that it's often fun just to scan the frame to see what's there. It is clearly in the creation of this foreboding urban vista where most of the money was spent, because otherwise I Am Legend is a small story that takes its time establishing atmosphere and showing Neville's unconventional daily routine. It's difficult to imagine any other movie star powering this stark thriller to over $240 million in US takings alone, but here he isn't playing Will Smith, The Personality - wisecracks, even smiles, are pretty much absent. The performance is an extremely strong one, as Smith brings his inherent likeability as well as an understated emotional heft.
Why director Francis Lawrence (who showed a great visual sense in his first film, Constantine) felt the need to have the vampiric creatures rendered in CGI is anyone's guess. While they are quite pallid and malnourished, they're not exactly Gollum; there's nothing a little make-up couldn't have achieved. Luckily they're not on screen for very long until the end. The end, in fact, is the only place where I Am Legend really falters, and not just because of the questionable computer graphics. At just over 100 minutes, the film winds up too quickly, and earlier hints at a certain plot direction go nowhere. It deserves applause for not finishing with an entirely "Hollywood" ending, but it does not avoid coming across as a slight letdown. It is unsurprising to learn that it is in these final stages where the film departs most from the book, which proved to be an unwise decision, but not, ultimately, a film-ruining one. Level of devotion to the book may determine level of enjoyment gained from the film.
The summary
A relatively thoughtful and highly engrossing star vehicle for the impressive Will Smith. Overuse of CGI and an anticlimactic ending are its only real weaknesses.
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