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DVD : I Am Legend [2007]
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Rating: 
- Absorbing Sci Fi Study Of The Human Condition...
This surprised me! Id seen an awful lot of negative press for this film so i didnt have the highest hopes. I was expecting an american take on 28 days and this film is nothing of the sort. Yes there are action setpieces and theres lots of atmospheric location but this film centre's on a stunning performance from Will Smith. I never thought that he could have carried (almost singlehandedly)this film as well as this - acting of real depth & emotion - and not one line of 'Bad Boys' style dialogue!!! Couldnt be more different than previous scifi offerings, Men In Black & Independence Day. This is not a popcorn movie by any means! This films central topics are isolation, loneliness & the inherited need for human contact
Much has been said about the Mutated Plague Victims & the CGI effects used to render them - well ive seen a LOT worse. There are a few shots (in particular when they are seen running in packs) where the movements are a little 'off' but generally they work well especially in close up ie skin tone etc. Id best describe them as physiologically similiar to the Reapers as seen in Blade 2. Pale, hairless & emaciated with the same wide open mouth type scream (a bit like the monster in Aphex Twin's Come To Daddy video). They move fast, VERY fast, mostly in packs ala 28 Days but they are different from those films.
One thing that isnt here is gore - theres no flesh eating or eye gouging here. There is action but not at the brutal level of Danny Boyle's films, Theres more blood & guts in the Romero films but this doesnt impact the film as its more about mood and short,sharply executed bursts of action than gleaming entrails. There are also a pack of mutant feral dogs that are a highlight although only seen briefly in the movies most tense setpiece
Some scenes depicting crowds panicking, civil disturbance & National Guard deployments kind of reminded me of War Of The Worlds (2005) & Cloverfield. The New York locations, both before The Plague & 3 years after in which the film is set are both vivid & disturbing. One area where the CGI has been highly succesful is enhancing the decay of Manhattan's post-apocalyptic Avenues & Skylines. Director Francis Lawrence effectiveley recalls the opening scenes of the 70's Omega Man adaptation starring the late, great Charlton Heston (Classic film)
Very good cinematography & editing too. The film looks fantastic.
WARNING:(SPOILER) IF YOU ARE A DOG LOVER, THERE IS ONE SCENE THATS A BIT OF A LUMP IN THE THROAT (you can see it coming a mile off but its still very sad and Smith really tugs at the heartstrings - if youve seen the Fly 2 you will know how it goes)
I would best recommend the 2 Disc Special Edition (which is the one ive purchased) for its excellent documentary on the science of Viralogy & its link to the film and mainly for the Alternative Cut of the film with a VERY different (more optimistic)ending
Excellent transfer too (and on the Special Edition)
Rating: - I am Legend, almost a great one
Any film which holds nice Emma Thompson (here playing a 'Dr Crippen', English crime buffs please note) responsible for the death of 5 billion people can't be all bad, and I AM LEGEND, fourth version of the famous work by Richard Matheson, is almost all good. Despite those who harp on about the changes from the source novel and weaknesses in the CGI department LEGEND, like Smith's earlier I ROBOT, proves a pleasurable surprise.
Smith plays Robert Neville ostensibly the last man on earth, fighting the zombies of the dark while struggling to isolate an antidote to a virus which has destroyed humanity. Swopping THE OMEGA MAN's over talkative, white haired soul brother brethren which menace Charlton Heston for more fearsome, inarticulate brutes is a real improvement, while Smith's sensitive portrayal of Neville brings to the surface a humanity and sadness streets away from Heston's chess playing, machine-gunning white autocrat. In one scene Smith tearfully asks a shop mannequin to talk back to him. To his credit the actor walks away from this moment with his dramatic integrity intact, and introduces a pathos missing from the franchise before.
Whether or not one sees the enhanced Christian subtext as successful or not will be a matter or taste (I gave it the benefit of the doubt), but the film retains the central irony of an atheistic hero proving the salvation on mankind. In any case it is no more subtle - and arguably less blasphemous, should one care - than Heston's carefully staged 'crucifixion' death scene in OMEGA.
Interestingly the new script has Neville refer to his perilous existence as at 'ground zero' - a significant phrase in the context of mass death, and which aptly recalls the apocalyptic mood of 9/11. Like the contemporary American mood, Neville too thinks he can 'fix it' (ie put the status quo back together again) a view reinforced by the final image of LEGEND: a fortress community, a harmonious USA in miniature perhaps, and one presumably besieged by hostile attackers.
Criticism of LEGEND has largely been levelled at the last third which has been taken as inferior to the first two, an opinion no doubt started by the American market which saw a feel-good ending. For the UK DVD release this has been replaced by something more downbeat and is more powerful.
Having said this, the most memorable parts of the film remain those which evolve around a lonely Neville in a deserted city, which is convincingly realised. Smith's portrayal of a haunted hero, broken by the death of his dog, is a fine one, and lifts the film well above average. It's a sign of the changing cultural times that Neville's solitary trip and mouthing of the words from the anti-establishment WOODSTOCK in THE OMEGA MAN is here replaced by an equivalent moment before the family-friendly SHREK and amongst sympathetic company at that, an altogether less powerful moment. And if perhaps the closing 20 minutes do seem a little breathless, then this is a minor miscalculation in a genre piece which I think will bear revisiting.
Rating:
- Disappointing, but some funny moments
Long awaited to see this considerng the trailers and ads which tries to make it a must see. But... opening scenes are OK with a few funny sketches, such as Will using the wing of a fighter plane to tee off as if it were a golf driving range. Then the film turns into a kind of Blade/ Underworld scenario but the creatures and suspense are disappointing. I wouldn't buy it, just rent it.
Rating: - Dross....
Sorry, but this film stinks and sinks without a trace when set alongsides The Omega Man and Quiet Earth. There is just no excuse for its lack of real creduality (a wonder cure-all for cancer that was only trialed on a few thousand people) and Will Smith gives a very subdued and wooden performance as the lead, if any acting honours are due they should go to the dog! Given the budget and the star lead it really should be better. The basic premise of the film is something that most of us will have thought about at some time so can I suggest that you watch The Quiet Earth which was very low budget but did have a touch of reality.
Rating: - Loved it
I thought this was a great film. True they have pretty much ignored the book it was based on, but do we really need such a hopeless ending? I have given it 4 stars rather than 5 because in the book the female character introduces a twist to the story. The film chooses to do without this and plays it straight instead. Over all though thoroughly enjoyable.
- Absorbing Sci Fi Study Of The Human Condition...This surprised me! Id seen an awful lot of negative press for this film so i didnt have the highest hopes. I was expecting an american take on 28 days and this film is nothing of the sort. Yes there are action setpieces and theres lots of atmospheric location but this film centre's on a stunning performance from Will Smith. I never thought that he could have carried (almost singlehandedly)this film as well as this - acting of real depth & emotion - and not one line of 'Bad Boys' style dialogue!!! Couldnt be more different than previous scifi offerings, Men In Black & Independence Day. This is not a popcorn movie by any means! This films central topics are isolation, loneliness & the inherited need for human contact
Much has been said about the Mutated Plague Victims & the CGI effects used to render them - well ive seen a LOT worse. There are a few shots (in particular when they are seen running in packs) where the movements are a little 'off' but generally they work well especially in close up ie skin tone etc. Id best describe them as physiologically similiar to the Reapers as seen in Blade 2. Pale, hairless & emaciated with the same wide open mouth type scream (a bit like the monster in Aphex Twin's Come To Daddy video). They move fast, VERY fast, mostly in packs ala 28 Days but they are different from those films.
One thing that isnt here is gore - theres no flesh eating or eye gouging here. There is action but not at the brutal level of Danny Boyle's films, Theres more blood & guts in the Romero films but this doesnt impact the film as its more about mood and short,sharply executed bursts of action than gleaming entrails. There are also a pack of mutant feral dogs that are a highlight although only seen briefly in the movies most tense setpiece
Some scenes depicting crowds panicking, civil disturbance & National Guard deployments kind of reminded me of War Of The Worlds (2005) & Cloverfield. The New York locations, both before The Plague & 3 years after in which the film is set are both vivid & disturbing. One area where the CGI has been highly succesful is enhancing the decay of Manhattan's post-apocalyptic Avenues & Skylines. Director Francis Lawrence effectiveley recalls the opening scenes of the 70's Omega Man adaptation starring the late, great Charlton Heston (Classic film)
Very good cinematography & editing too. The film looks fantastic.
WARNING:(SPOILER) IF YOU ARE A DOG LOVER, THERE IS ONE SCENE THATS A BIT OF A LUMP IN THE THROAT (you can see it coming a mile off but its still very sad and Smith really tugs at the heartstrings - if youve seen the Fly 2 you will know how it goes)
I would best recommend the 2 Disc Special Edition (which is the one ive purchased) for its excellent documentary on the science of Viralogy & its link to the film and mainly for the Alternative Cut of the film with a VERY different (more optimistic)ending
Excellent transfer too (and on the Special Edition)
Rating:
- I am Legend, almost a great oneAny film which holds nice Emma Thompson (here playing a 'Dr Crippen', English crime buffs please note) responsible for the death of 5 billion people can't be all bad, and I AM LEGEND, fourth version of the famous work by Richard Matheson, is almost all good. Despite those who harp on about the changes from the source novel and weaknesses in the CGI department LEGEND, like Smith's earlier I ROBOT, proves a pleasurable surprise.
Smith plays Robert Neville ostensibly the last man on earth, fighting the zombies of the dark while struggling to isolate an antidote to a virus which has destroyed humanity. Swopping THE OMEGA MAN's over talkative, white haired soul brother brethren which menace Charlton Heston for more fearsome, inarticulate brutes is a real improvement, while Smith's sensitive portrayal of Neville brings to the surface a humanity and sadness streets away from Heston's chess playing, machine-gunning white autocrat. In one scene Smith tearfully asks a shop mannequin to talk back to him. To his credit the actor walks away from this moment with his dramatic integrity intact, and introduces a pathos missing from the franchise before.
Whether or not one sees the enhanced Christian subtext as successful or not will be a matter or taste (I gave it the benefit of the doubt), but the film retains the central irony of an atheistic hero proving the salvation on mankind. In any case it is no more subtle - and arguably less blasphemous, should one care - than Heston's carefully staged 'crucifixion' death scene in OMEGA.
Interestingly the new script has Neville refer to his perilous existence as at 'ground zero' - a significant phrase in the context of mass death, and which aptly recalls the apocalyptic mood of 9/11. Like the contemporary American mood, Neville too thinks he can 'fix it' (ie put the status quo back together again) a view reinforced by the final image of LEGEND: a fortress community, a harmonious USA in miniature perhaps, and one presumably besieged by hostile attackers.
Criticism of LEGEND has largely been levelled at the last third which has been taken as inferior to the first two, an opinion no doubt started by the American market which saw a feel-good ending. For the UK DVD release this has been replaced by something more downbeat and is more powerful.
Having said this, the most memorable parts of the film remain those which evolve around a lonely Neville in a deserted city, which is convincingly realised. Smith's portrayal of a haunted hero, broken by the death of his dog, is a fine one, and lifts the film well above average. It's a sign of the changing cultural times that Neville's solitary trip and mouthing of the words from the anti-establishment WOODSTOCK in THE OMEGA MAN is here replaced by an equivalent moment before the family-friendly SHREK and amongst sympathetic company at that, an altogether less powerful moment. And if perhaps the closing 20 minutes do seem a little breathless, then this is a minor miscalculation in a genre piece which I think will bear revisiting.
Rating:
- Disappointing, but some funny momentsLong awaited to see this considerng the trailers and ads which tries to make it a must see. But... opening scenes are OK with a few funny sketches, such as Will using the wing of a fighter plane to tee off as if it were a golf driving range. Then the film turns into a kind of Blade/ Underworld scenario but the creatures and suspense are disappointing. I wouldn't buy it, just rent it.
Rating:
- Dross....Sorry, but this film stinks and sinks without a trace when set alongsides The Omega Man and Quiet Earth. There is just no excuse for its lack of real creduality (a wonder cure-all for cancer that was only trialed on a few thousand people) and Will Smith gives a very subdued and wooden performance as the lead, if any acting honours are due they should go to the dog! Given the budget and the star lead it really should be better. The basic premise of the film is something that most of us will have thought about at some time so can I suggest that you watch The Quiet Earth which was very low budget but did have a touch of reality.
Rating:
- Loved itI thought this was a great film. True they have pretty much ignored the book it was based on, but do we really need such a hopeless ending? I have given it 4 stars rather than 5 because in the book the female character introduces a twist to the story. The film chooses to do without this and plays it straight instead. Over all though thoroughly enjoyable.