Note: I originally posted this review in January. The much-improved alternate ending was just posted on YouTube. If this had been the theatrical ending, I probably would have given the film an A- or B+, putting it in my Top 10 of 2007.
An obvious Spoiler Alert — don’t watch this if you haven’t seen the movie, even though it’s not the ending they used, it will reveal very key plot points.
UPDATE: The video has been removed. However, it can be found HERE.
“My name is Robert Neville. I am a survivor living in New York City…”
Rated PG-13. In Theaters. Directed by Francis Lawrence. Based on the novel by Richard Matheson. Starring Will Smith.
.
It’s too bad that I Am Legend didn’t come out after Cloverfield, because in some ways it would have worked as a follow-up. While Cloverfield is a movie about experiencing a destructive, apocalyptic event, I Am Legend is about a survivor living in a post-apocalyptic world following that type of event, though of course, the type of events are different. Plus, they both take place in New York City and benefit from the destruction of iconic locations like the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square and the Statue of Liberty.
I Am Legend opens with an uncredited Emma Thompson as a research scientist explaining her revolutionary new discovery — a modified measles virus that acts as a cure for cancer. Needless to say, the joy is short-lived, as we jump three years into the future to a now-deserted New York City landscape, where former Army scientist Robert Neville (Will Smith) is living in virtual solitude with his trusty dog, Sam, who would deserve a Best Supporting Dog award if it ever existed. Of course, he’s not entirely alone, as the mutated virus has created in its survivors a disturbing new race of humanity – the “darkseekers.”
The movie is at its best in these early scenes, when Smith is truly alone, with Sam playing the Wilson the Volleyball character to Smith’s Tom Hanks, offering a glimpse into Neville’s rapidly deteriorating psyche. We follow Neville through his day-to-day activities — stripping abandoned apartments of valuables, conducting research on mice trying to find a cure, and watching every DVD in alphabetical order from a video store populated with mannequins. There are also some awesome shots of an desolate New York City that are reminiscent of the shots in 28 Days Later of an abandoned London.
It is jarring to see Smith, an actor best known for his confidence and his witty, cocky persona, playing the role of a broken man losing his grip with reality, but he pulls it off quite well. Director Lawrence makes effective use of silence and darkness to create some very memorable sequences, with three strong ones in particular essentially carrying the film. The flashback scenes, which are intercut with the early scenes to provide some exposition, end up being somewhat unnecessary.
The biggest problem with the film is that it really felt like two different stories and the first 2/3rds are setting up an ending that doesn’t materialize. Perhaps, this is because an alternate ending, which would have been much stronger, was killed after test audiences responded poorly. It’s tough to go into detail about the shortcomings of the third act without giving anything away. Suffice to say, while the ending wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t consistent with the first 2/3rds of the movie and would have been better served to continue in the original direction. And for those expecting anything similar to the novel, be advised that the movie isn’t particularly faithful to the source material.
It is also the type of movie where the more you think about it, the less sense it makes, but it’s easy to suspend your disbelief while you’re experiencing it. The movie has some of the more intense, harrowing scenes I’ve seen in a while, and for that alone it is worth seeing. If you combined the best qualities of I Am Legend with the best from Cloverfield, then it would really be something, but on their own, they both have their flaws.
Grade: B
.
Subscribe to my blog, using the RSS feed or subscribe via e-mail using FeedBlitz or RSSFWD.
Stumble It!.
Well, I saw it with you, so I’ve had the same amount of time to think about it since. I agree that every time I consider it again, the less sense it makes; the intense, dark sequences that scare Will Smith’s character so badly remain the strongest parts while the plot as a whole starts to suffer in retrospect. I also agree that the ending does not mesh well with the rest, and I don’t know what the alternative ending was (or indeed that there had been one) but I have an idea where they were going.
One final thing–as we discussed right after watching it–the one thing I really think the filmmakers could/should have run with was the clearly-more-human-than-Smith-gave-him-credit-for ringleader of the vampire/zombie monster/infected people/things. Why go into the effort of making him look like an actual character, which Smith’s character ruminates about (”behavioral note:…”), and then disappoint anyone in the audience who was paying attention by not going anywhere with it?
I agree with your overall assessment, largely on the grounds that despite its flaws, it was well acted, intense, visually stunning (the post-apocalyptic NYC is worth the $11.25 in my opinion), and just plain cool.
Hello, just came across your site there on the movies tags! have to agree that the ending didn’t mesh well with the rest of the film. But that’s often the way with horror movies…the suspense is always better than the climax. And it’s so difficult to add an original spin to any film with a zombie related theme, that I have to praise I Am Legend for at least trying! Looking forward to Cloverfield next
It definitely had the potential to be a really great movie of this genre if the ending had been better. For those interested, the alternate ending explanation can be found here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480249/faq#.2.1.43
I still don’t like this ending very much, but it would have been better and more in tune with the movie — though some form of the ending in the book would have also worked.
I saw this movie more than a month ago, so while I don’t really remember the details, I agree with most of what you’re saying.
I would probably give it a higher grade, though (strong B+?). I agree with you that the best parts of the movie came early, and the ending wasn’t particularly strong, but I thought that the good parts were really, really good. You’re right that this movie reminded me of Castaway and 28 Days Later, but Smith’s character his situation are way more interesting than anything I remember about those movies. The investigation of his psyche was fascinating to me.
Also, I liked the flashbacks for the most part and I’d imagine the movie is better for having them.
[...] at What I Love [...]
I’ve found here the “I Am Legend” alternate ending which is available and working. This video is no longer available on youtube due to a copyright claim by Warner Bros, BayTSP
This post is hotting, and both of this post and this blog are high ranked in the top report of wp. But today we have generated
a more pro top blogs daily report . Now I’ve just posted the newest report , see and reply me some comments. Thanks.
I know nobody will read this seeing as it’s the 775th post on here and nobody would read that far down, but I just wanted my word in this. The alternate ending was not as good for these reasons:
- Robert didn’t die: In pretty much all movies, there is a happy ending. It can’t always be good. Cloverfield is another favorite of mine…
SPOILER START
and a lot because I didn’t predict that EVERYONE would die in the end.
SPOILER END
-It didn’t have the ‘Legend’ in it: There is a reason why it’s titled “I AM LEGEND” and it’s because Robert is a legend. Now I didn’t read the book, but I pretty much know the differences and…
SPOILER START
Being that they weren’t true to the book and left out that he was THE ONLY non-infected person and that he was a legend TO THE INFECTED PEOPLE, the original ending was better because it at least had something in it about a legend. I would have liked it better had they been true to the book and was hoping that, since it said “Alternate VERSION” not “Alternate ENDING”, that they would have changed the story line completely by having just a few scenes that redirected it’s story, but the Alternate Version was basically just the ending and it veered away from anything to do with a “Legend” The original was better because at least it followed up to ANYTHING to do with it’s title
SPOILER END
Also, everybody wants to know about the bridge in the end and how it was destroyed. In order for Anna to get to Robert, she had to also cross. Now I guess nobody takes into consideration that there are other ways to get across a body of water than a car over a bridge. She probably drove there and then used a boat or raft to get to the other side. Same way back. They used a boat to get across and then got back in her car and we saw them over a different bridge. Another alternative if you didn’t like this one would be that you only see the military shoot down 2 of the bridges. I don’t live in NYC, but I am almost positive that there are more than 2 bridges to get across.
One more thing that people aren’t making sense of is the trap that the Infected set for Robert. You all thought he was stupid by just going up and not realizing it was a trap, but he’s going mad, people, he has been alone, except for his dog, for three years. He has been living in fear every night for three years. He is going a little crazy.
I know this was long to read if you finished, but I hope all of this makes sense.
Sorry about the 775th post thing, that was because I posted this on another site and it was WAY down in the list.
Andrew — I agree that the very end (them driving off into the sunset) wasn’t great, but the alternate scene with Neville & the darkseekers was what they were building up to the whole movie. The original ending made absolutely no sense and did not continue the tone that the rest of the movie had been setting.
And I think it’s silly to judge the ending on how well it conforms to the title. The reason it’s titled that is because the book is also titled that. I wouldn’t dwell upon that — besides the way they use Legend in the original ending was totally different than the book anyway.
I think the issue w/ the bridges is that at the end they’re driving over the GW Bridge, and since we see them blowing up the Brooklyn and I think the Queensboro Bridges it wouldn’t make sense that they didn’t do the same to the GW Bridge. But I honestly don’t care about that.
[...] who went on to direct I Am Legend, shows his talent as the film is very visually interesting and the action sequences [...]
The new ending improves the film dramatically. Why Wb chose to go with the one in the theatrical version is anyone’s guess!
Chuck
entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com