There’s something about Will Smith movies that I like. It’s either the Action or the Acting. I loveeeed Ali. The Acting was amazing — it’s a shame I fell asleep in the first 10 minutes but it was probably the best sleep I’ve ever had during a movie that boring. In his ‘less than perfect acting roles’ (take your pick) I was always drawn to the story or the action. In I Am Legend, however, I’m not quite sure what appeals to me. The acting is … meh … The action is pretty … meh … The thrills are … well pretty good actually. What I really liked however, was the idea behind the movie. The story of one man alone facing his own isolation from the rest of … inhumanity. It reminded me of the movie Castaway, with Tom Hanks. Both Isolated. Both with their trusty companion by their side (netball vs dog). Both just trying to find a way to survive in an environment that was been thrusted onto them (deserted island vs deserted New York).

I Am Legend is the third adaption of the 1954 science fiction novel by Richard Matheson about the last man alive, this time in a future Los Angeles, which popularised the idea of vampirism as a disease. Prior films, taking as much creative licence with the novel as tthe Will Smith vehicle, were The Last Man on Earth (1964) and The Omega Man (1971). In the current incarnation, the story revolves around Robert Neville (Will Smith), a scientist who has lost everything dear to him while trying to escape a mutating virus. After this traumatic event, Neville commits himself to remaining alone in the freshly decaying buidlings of New York in order to find a cure. The mutating virus ironically originated as the cure to cancer, but produced a mutation in the human genome causing the carrier to transform into a type of super zombie whose only weakness is photosensitivity. Somehow immune from this virus (it’s not explained), Neville convinces himself that he is last human survivor in the world and the only way to rebuild civilization is to use his blood and attempt to reverse the zombie mutation. I have to admit that the ending to this film is something I did not expect.

The world that director Francis Lawrence took me to was pretty unreal. I even briefly believed that New York was this isolated (mind you, I’ve been there and the way some New Yorkers act you might as well be – ha!). I began loving his work after watching Constantine. This young director has come a long way since his early Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez music videos and, not surprisingly, is perhaps destined to become one of the new ‘greats’ a few years and a few movies from now. The only element to the movie I might question is that there is a scientist who looks as good as Will Smith. I wonder how Seth Green would have faired in this role?