Movie Review: I Am Legend

I went into this movie with high expectations. I was expecting to see a summer blockbuster suddenly rear its head in the late fall with plenty of action and explosions. What I got was a severely plot-heavy film where Will Smith remains alone on screen for the vast duration of the film.

Is this a problem? In a way, yes and no.

This film definitely came across in trailers, to me at least, as an action movie. I was really expecting a lot more shooting, car scenes, and overall more "Michael Bay"-ness. Instead I got a film which is very emotionally charged and supported by brilliant imagery, albeit mostly computer generated or assisted. There really are a few moments in the film that are heart wrenching and make one really feel for Robert Neville (Will Smith). Will Smith's acting in this film is absolutely superb, really giving the sense of what the mindset of the last man on earth might be like.

The portrayal of a New York where humans have been nonexistent for three years is absolutely breathtaking. Plants have begun to retake the city, cars sit rusted parked along the sides of the roads, and buildings have begun to show their wear and tare without maintenance over the time. The CG work in the film is some of the best I have ever seen; scenes shot in Times Square were done with cars going by and people packing the sidewalks. The CG artists managed to erase all of that from every frame and turn Times Square into a desolate graveyard. Truly some of the best imagery I have seen in film this year.

The film has some legit plot twists that really catch you off guard, but they all seem to come rather close together. Maybe it was my "action movie" expectations that put me so off guard to this, but it may also be the film's length; it clocks in at exactly 100 minutes, or 1 hour 40 minutes. I REALLY, and I mean REALLY expected this film to be at least two if not two and a half hours long, and the end comes so...suddenly, that what you think is chapter two or three of the film is really the film's climax.

Overall, though, this was an enjoyable film, and certainly the type of film we need right now; something that doesn't need to be taken seriously and will give you a few scares, but at the same time can really make you think about "what if...".

Score: 8.1 out of 10. It may just be me, but this just wasn't the film I was expecting. Still a great film, mind you, but it really caught me off guard in it's style and emotionally-driven storyline.