I AM LEGEND

Director: Francis Lawrence
Stars: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Year: 2007
Rating: PG-13

I read Richard Matheson's classic novel, on which this film is based, maybe a dozen years ago. Back then, I remember enjoying the book but ultimately being disappointed with its ending; a fact that sort of reverberates here, int the third filmed version of his novel.

Will Smith, in an extraordinary performance, plays army scientist caught up in a hellacious and isolated world; it seems that several years ago, Dr. Alice Krippin (Emma Thompson, in a cameo appearance), a New York City physician, actually discovered a cure for cancer. The cure, hailed as the greatest breakthrough in medicine, soon turned into a fate worse than death itself, as those who received the cure began to slowly mutate into rabid, flesh-eating zombies. This new and deadly virus, spreading both through the air and by direct contact, eventually led to the entire island of Manhattan being quarantined - those not yet infected able to leave, those infected doomed to stay.

Just over three years later, Dr. Robert Neville (Smith) - remains in a deserted and lifeless Manhattan. He's stayed voluntarily, in charge of finding a cure for this worldwide epidemic, and is hoping that his natural immunity is the key. Roaming the streets of Manhattan by day with his German shepherd Sam, Neville is a tortured soul whose own past of personal tragedy can't even begin to deal with the hell of being, quite possibly - the last living human being on earth.

And yet, he is not alone. After dark, those who live in the dank office buildings and parking garages by day come out to prowl ... and to feed. These zombie-like flesh-eaters are fast, savage, and seemingly without rational thought. Or ... are they? Neville appears to be perfectly safe, his watch alarm going off when the sun is close to setting, so that he has time to get home - and his home itself has rolling metal shutters and locks to close all doors and windows off at night, so that nothing can get in - and with his lab in the basement, Neville can continue his research in the hopes of curing the very things hunting him.

You can feel Neville's desperation in this film, big time, thanks to Smith's performance. He's haunting and tragic, speaking to mannequins he's set up in a local video rental store as if they were real people. Every day he gets on his radio and puts out the word, to anyone possibly listening, that he's alive and can offer food and shelter in New York City, for anyone who wants to meet him at a designated spot he goes to daily - and for over three years there is no reply, and no one shows up. Smith carries maybe 75% of the movie on his own, on screen; not an easy task, but one his talent is up to. It really is a great performance.

And the scenes of New York's evacuation and devastation are impeccable. I recognized some of the streets Neville drove or walked down in Manhattan - streets that, here, are absolutely chilling; grass growing through the cracks, dead vehicles blocking your path - hell, even wild deer run these dead and desolate streets, dodging in between cars, in a world that's not theirs. At least by day.

The first hour of this film is disturbing and a visual knockout. You grow to care about Robert Neville and his plight - trying to save a society that no longer exists, with all the cards stacked against him. The zombie-like creatures (vampires in the book - and I really think they should have been, here) are horrifying, and the film builds the appropriate suspense by holding off on showing them right away ... but, once seen, it's a bit obvious that they've been computer-enhanced, and that was a disappointment.

Without giving anything away, it's the last half-hour of the film that's sort of a letdown. Smith's character becomes part messiah, part martyr, and less believable than in the earlier part of the film. The ending is satisfactory, if not the most upbeat, and overall there's no denying this film is amazing in what is accomplishes. It's just one of those that, by the end, you wish had been a bit "more" - even if you're not sure what that "more" means. *** - Reel Cool