badecca
Posts 2
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1/7/2008 12:17 AM
posted awhile ago
Re:I Am Legend, Juno
Seen both. And yes, I couldn't agree with you and Matty more on both takes. I am one of those folks who live in New York who find it strangely fascinating to see my city disintegrating and assaulted on celluoid - such as in The Day After Tomorrow, AI, etc. - and this was one of the best executions of that conceit. I honsetly don't know why I enjoy this - but these scenes were plentiful and very well done, with tons of recognizable major and minor locations. It was an interesting take on the old fantasy of what would you do if you were allowed to sleep all night in a museum. I liked that he had Van Goughs and other famous artwork on his wall without it being addressed that he had clearly taken them from the musuems - well, there's no one else to enjoy them, is there? I found these "what if" explorations far more interesting and exciting - and cinematic - than the zombies. If you were the last man in manhattan - how would you keep yourself occupied? What would your food sources be? Would you go about things systematically or haphazardly? But then again, I'm the type of person who really enjoys the parts of video games where you explore the environment, sometimes more so than when you have to interact with danger. So, then there's the danger. The first scene - which you talked about on the show - when he follows his dog Sam into a dark space - was thrilling. I generally avoid horror movies, so I had a flood of feelings including - why did I come to this movie? Can I handle this? And wow, this is really flipping exciting! And then the zombies were so disappointing after that. As you said - give me some humans in makeup! After this one initial finger-bitting scene, it was like watching a video game - and I think this was a missed opportunity on so many levels. 1) Humans would have been scarier - even Shaun of the Dead was scarier, because it was more realistic! These are supposed to be humans, so how did they become so homogenous - same size, color, musculature, etc? B) Humans would have been more interesting and tragic - because then he would have had to explore more complicate emotions about killing them and conducting experiments on them. Oh well. It was worth seeing on the big screen for the first half. And that charming dog.
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rpaik
Posts 1
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1/7/2008 2:47 PM
posted awhile ago
Re:I Am Legend, Juno
Aside from some storyline inconsistencies and the obvious, and aforementioned, problems with the CG Dark Seekers, I really enjoyed this film. I agree with Adam and Matty about the scenes in the video store with the mannequins not working. The emotion and dialogue feel forced and artificial. It's too awkward an attempt at depicting Smith's lonliness. As much as I thought the video store scenes were awkward, without the setup of the video store scenes, we wouldn't have had Smith being caught in a trap seemingly set by the Dark Seekers (DS). Earlier in the film, Smith makes an audio notation that the DS have completely devolved because he cannot explain why one of the DS exposed himself to harmful UV light when Smith captured a female DS. There's a hesitation in his voice as if he doesn't really believe that (they may actually be evolving in their viral state) and/or he may really be talking about himself. Obviously, they're trying to indicate that there was some sort of societal or emotional connection between the male DS and the female DS that was captured because the attacks seem to get "personal" at that point, which would have worked better with actors in makeup like in Shaun of the Dead. There's also an indication that there's actually some sort of order to the DS universe. Smith is captured in a trap that is strikingly similar to the trap he set for the DS, but instead of blood, the DS use Frank the mannequin as bait. After he's caught, the DS attack him with what appear to be domesticated hell dogs. For me, I found all of that pretty interesting, and I like that they didn't go off on a tangent to explore it but just sort of hinted at it and stayed with Smith. Nothing new to add about the best sequences of the film, but the best scene in the film, the one that is seared in my mind's eye, is when Smith is searching for Sam in the dark building. He's found the dead deer and he thinks he hears something else. He covers his light and quickly blinks it in the direction of the sound where we see a huddle of zombie like humans, breathing heavily, with their backs turned to Smith and the audience. Smith quickly, and frantically, covers his light again and he's in what appears to be total darkness. We can only barely make out the outline of his face as he tries to quietly creep away. Of course, every little noise he makes us all jump in our seats. The movie ends much too conveniently, though. Smith is saved by a woman (I can't remember her name) that somehow made it onto Manhattan island even though all the bridges were destroyed, and if they destroyed the bridges, I can only assume that the tunnels were destroyed as well. Which reminds me of a scene where Sam chases a deer into a tunnel, which is dark and could presumably house some DS, but Smith does not appear worried about that. The woman and Ethan, the boy, believe that there's a survivor's colony in the Virginia mountains because the virus can't survive in the cold. The last time I checked, winters get pretty darn cold in NYC and the DS seem to be thriving, along with the multitude of deer. She and the boy also hide in a chimney box with a metal door when Smith uses a grenade on the DS in his lab. All I could think was, "She must be getting roasted right about now" since he blows himself up pretty close to the hiding place. Then, she conveniently finds a way off the island, presumably the way she got in, and finds this survivor's colony somewhere in the Virginia mountains. Still a good flick though.
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