i am legend

THE FLICK: Suddenly, the end of the world is in fashion again. After 28 Days Later found a way to cheaply and effectively wipe out life as we know it, the cinema has become obsessed with our own destruction...usually resulting in some sort of flesh-eating zombie plague that holds a mirror to our own inadequacies as a species. The inspiration for all this anarchy is often laid at the feet George Romero and his seminal undead epic Dawn of the Dead. But the true source goes back much further to author / screenwriter Richard Matheson’s influential novella I Am Legend. Twice adapted for the screen – 1964’s underappreciated The Last Man on Earth and 1971’s The Omega Man with a bare-chested Charlton Heston – this third version went through years of development hell before emerging with Will Smith in the lead and director Francis Lawrence (Constantine) behind the camera, telling the same story of a scientist/soldier fighting off an army of mutated survivors of a chemical apocalypse. At least, that’s Hollywood’s logline. As the theatrical release date approached, fans were wringing their hands whether or not I Am Legend circa 2007 would remain true to the original work? But perhaps the real question is: should it even bother? If filmed verbatim, I Am Legend would play like a slow-moving indie film, bereft of the sort of explosions and action scenes the genre has come to expect. So much of Matheson’s story has been absorbed into our entertainment culture that the uniqueness of its central “idea” has worn off. On the page, it’s still as masterpiece...on the screen, it needs some work. So it’s great to see a studio throw so much money at what is essentially a B-movie concept. And it’s obvious that Will Smith saw in the character of Robert Neville as chance to meld both sides of his persona – the Hollywood action hero and the serious thespian. I Am Legend can best be described as “Castaway with zombies.” Most of the film details the slow disintegration of Neville’s psyche as he wanders the empty city hunting for food, renting movies and collecting “specimens” to use as experiments in his search for a cure. And for the first half-hour director Francis Lawrence creates the very first big-budget action art film in history. The deliberate pace, internal dialogue and half-seen monsters make for a movie that truly defies the conventions of a typical blockbuster. But the Hollywood gods must be served eventually. And I Am Legend turns into just the sort of big, loud, effects-laden spectacle that fans feared it would become; the most notably flaw being an over-reliance on CG to create the “dark seekers” that populate the city. There are choice moments to admire – Neville’s risky dog rescue early in the film and a crafty trap set by the supposedly feral creatures – and the alternate ending on video helps to humanize things a bit. But ultimately I Am Legend falls victim to the same flaw in the original story: after 50 years, it’s too familiar to be frightening. THE FEATURES: It must be said that, my opinions of the film aside, I Am Legend on Blu-ray is just the sort of movie hi-def technology was invented for. Warner’s transfer handles the darkest darks with ease and makes the abandoned island of Manhattan look even more impressive than it did in theaters. The extras however are all stuck on standard-def. Totaling just over an hour, the two featurettes are split up to cover the “behind-the-scenes” angle and a more scientific approach posing the “What If” question about a viral apocalypse. There’s also 20-minutes of animated comics (these are in hi-def) exclusive to Blu-ray.