Movie Review: I Am Legend - Hollywood Ending

The effect of the writers' strike seems to be showing up on films made even before it began. The real horror in I Am Legend is not the post-apocalyptic future or the misshapen zombie vampires, but the screenplay and its schmaltzy Hollywood ending. This is a real pity because Will Smith turns in perhaps some of the best solo acting ever, and had they only stuck to the book's plot, we might have had a savory repast. Instead, we are presented with a fine-seeming buffet, only to be asked to sign up for the cruise to be able to enjoy the taste.

The book's post-war themes dealt with a changing world and a man at odds with it, a world where a new society was emerging which finally discards the last survivor of the old age, reminiscent of William Golding's The Inheritors, with the Cro-Magnons discarding the last Neanderthals. The film dispenses with the defeatist themes of the novel, replacing them instead with a sort of American exceptionalism, a belief that there is still hope and the advancing tide of global change can be held back and even reversed by the actions of a few good Americans, or perhaps only one. In this respect, it embraces the Hollywood tradition of Independence Day and the like without reaching the heart of the horror. 

The lean and sparse landscape of Southern California and hence Dr Neville's interior world is replaced by the all-too-popular stage set of New York, helping reinforce the post-9/11 intent of the film. The sets are impressive, and the staging of some of the scenes, such as the Brooklyn Bridge one, deserve an Oscar nomination at the very least. The heart-stopping frights work, at least for a while. All the vampires have a vaguely familiar look to them - almost as if they were bastard clones of a blended Lord Voldemort and Gollum. The urban environment is like that in Constantine,which is not surprising, both coming from the same director.

The film's been a long while in the coming, with putative directors such as Ridley Scott and Guillermo del Toro. Francis Lawrence turns in a good effort. The lighting and camerawork is well done. The empty spaces in the midst of the metropolis are more effective than the rarely seen vampires or "dark seekers". He creates significant tension in certain scenes by using silence to great effect. The opening sequences with a deserted New York, overrun by wild things is a fine precursor to the coming darkness. Will Smith gives the role his very best, leaving us to wonder at times whether he has finally gone insane.

The finale is a terrible letdown, however, coming too soon, turning the film into a moralistic creed. and leaving one feeling as betrayed as perhaps Dr. Robert Neville felt when Ruth turned on him in the book.