I Am Legend got my heart racing, and breaking. A surprising mix of horror and humanity, I Am Legend works in ways drama and horror don’t alone.
A cure for one of humanity’s most horrific diseases is welcomed as an amazing advancement for medicine. The miracle drug came with unexpected side effects, photosensitive zombification. Military doctor Robert Neville (Will Smith) works to try to cure the problem. He finds himself alone in New York City with only his dog, Sam, and swarms of infected. Together they try to find a cure for the disease, try to survive and try not to succumb to the extreme loneliness.
It’s challenging when you have no dialogue to hide behind, or to explain how you are feeling to truly get the point across. Will Smith does a fair amount of dialogue-free acting. There is a scene with his dog about half way through the movie when he looks completely naked, emotionally. I was touched by the scenes with his family and his dog, scared for him when he was in danger and laughed with him when the moment arose. I was surprised to see such touching acting in I Am Legend, mostly because I went to see just for the action.
Action is a great reason to see I Am Legend. There are falling cars, traps, explosions, shootings, car chases, zombie-like people, lions and deer. Will Smith’s performance is like a ten year old with pocket full of rubber bands and a group of unsuspecting girls. The tension builds like the potential energy on a slowly drawn rubber band. The scary scenes are shocking and frightening, like a flick from a rubber band to the cheek, and the excitement builds until let go and the audience experiences some well agitated relief.
Unfortunately, there is no relief in the animation and your eyeballs are often left feeling like someone flung a rubber band in your cornea. I Am Legend’s simulated visuals are uneven and sometimes downright poor. The infected are all computer generated and they look it. They are by far the most disappointing part of the movie. They look the same, with no distinctive features of who the people once were. In all of New York City there are no infected people who look any ethnicity other than Anglo. Their clothes are the same; as if they’ve just washed up from a ship wreck. There are no naked infected; I guess they are self conscious enough to wear clothing but not bright enough to care for their clothing.
The visual injury aside, I Am Legend kept me well entertained and much to my astonishment touched at times. I Am Legend will be sure to satisfy someone looking for a plot and someone looking for some mindless action.