It is absolutely gripping in its vision of how lonely it would be to be the last man on Earth. It's absolutely dull in almost every other respect.
I Am Legend (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:203
Fresh:139
Rotten:64
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: I Am Legend overcomes questionable special effects and succeeds largely on the strength of Will Smith's mesmerizing performance.
Australian Rating: M [See Full Rating] Moderate horror violence and themes
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Australian Theatrical Release:
Jan 3, 2008 Wide
US Box Office: $256,339,571
Synopsis: Will Smith is Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a New York City where streets are overgrown and deer gambol among deserted automobiles. Following an epidemic, the Earth's population has been... Will Smith is Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a New York City where streets are overgrown and deer gambol among deserted automobiles. Following an epidemic, the Earth's population has been turned into an army of nocturnal zombies. Immune to the virus, military scientist Neville searches for a cure in his Washington Square townhouse. Haunted by visions of his family leaving quarantined Manhattan two years prior, he drives through the city with his German Shepherd, Sam, by day and barricades his home from the monsters nightly. But when Anna (Alice Braga)--another immune stranger-finds him, they will have to fight the onslaught twice as hard. Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich's emotionally-charged script showcases the charisma of Smith, who commands the screen alone for most of the picture (aside Abbey, a talented German Shepherd). Director Francis Lawrence (CONSTANTINE) uses music minimally, wisely allowing the eerie cityscapes to remain mostly silent. The set pieces, including an overgrown, deserted Times Square and a lion hunting a deer in the Flatrion District, are goosebump-inducing moments of stark beauty. Though some may question the rendering of the monsters in CGI instead of using actors, it does allow them to be frighteningly acrobatic. A chilling and effective adaptation of a horror classic, I AM LEGEND is also a thought-provoking piece of Hollywood filmmaking. [More]
Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith, Charlie Tahan
Director: Francis Lawrence
Director: Francis Lawrence
Screenwriter: Mark Protosevich, Akiva Goldsman
Producer: Akiva Goldsman, James Lassiter, David Heyman, Neal Moritz
Composer: James Newton Howard
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for I Am Legend
The end result is an eerie, creepy, doomsday-laden film with plenty of thrills %u2013 and for anyone so inclined, a smattering of metaphors that pass comment on the human condition.
I Am Legend is three film genres for the price of one: Science Fiction, Action, and Horror, and while it's no classic in any one arena it remains edgy fun.
This is no graphic shoot-’em-up but an intelligent, if sometimes sentimental, exploration of human decency and responsibility that ponders the limits of rationality and faith.
There are some good points, but there are too many ineffectual aspects that keep I Am Legend from being the sophisticated film it was clearly meant to be.
Smith turns in a terrific performance, nailing Neville's angst while allowing room for humor.
Smith still manages to find something touching and occasionally even tragic in the character.
For everything that is good about it, though, I Am Legend struggles against two primary problems.
It left me highly entertained, since out of the original story the filmmakers have created a different, but exciting and tense story filled with action, suspense and a lead character you can truly care about.
When they do, banging their heads against plate glass as movie zombies always do, I started needing something else to think about.
I Am Legend is far from a feel-good film; it's a familiar (for fans of Stephen King's The Stand or Heston's Omega Man) post-apocalyptic adventure rife with chills and hopelessness.
Will Smith shows some promise trying to find a cure for a horrific virus, but somehow the plot becomes Shrek, Bob Marley and God trying to save the world.
With "I Am Legend," Will Smith has accomplished what Tom Hanks did back in 2000: Effectively star in a movie that involves very little interaction with other human counterparts.
The monsters are routine CGI creations, crudely animated and unconvincing. In a film of such visual majesty and surprisingly weighty drama, they present an unfortunate and needless distraction.
I wouldn't dream of giving away the ending, but it's not likely to satisfy either the action crowd or Matheson fans.
...a triumph of set design and CGI over story line or credibility.
If a horror movie is of true holy-bejesus caliber, you should be exhaling with relief at the end instead of thinking, 'Gee, that went fast!'
Eerie and breathtakingly evocative, the solid I Am Legend nevertheless tries to be too many things to too many people, weighed down with cheap horror-film shock effects and barely passable CGI, instead of trusting in its legitimately captivating
Latest News for I Am Legend
December 08, 2008:
Will Smith Outlines "Fantastic Prequel Idea" for I Am Legend ![]()
Never mind all that stuff about the next "I Am Legend" movie being a sequel -- Will Smith gave the straight scoop to Collider recently, and outlined his ideas for the "Legend"... More...
November 25, 2008:
A Sequel for I Am Legend? ![]()
It's utterly unverified, but AICN has started a rumor that the upcoming "I Am Legend" prequel may not be a prequel at all, but will instead pick up the story of Will Smith's... More...
September 25, 2008:
Will Smith Is Still Legend ![]()
Warner Bros. is moving ahead with its rumored "I Am Legend" prequel, and has hired D.B. Weiss to write a script based on an outline by Will Smith, Francis Lawrence, Akiva... More...
July 28, 2008:
Weekly Ketchup: TRON, I Am Legend, Hercules, Red Sonja, And More
In this special edition Weekly Ketchup, the sequels, prequels and comic book heroes keep coming, as we have the latest from Comic Con. More...
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