I Am Legend

[thartley]

I dont usually like to bash a movie, but I have to say I really REALLY didnt like this film.  I had such high expectations, and that may have been my problem right there.  I had not read the book before, so I thought I would be going in to this movie with something on my side....a clean slate as to how I thought the story would or should be told.  What I ended up feeling was that the story didnt move along, it had no arc, there was nothing that made me emotionally care or connect with Will Smith's character, and I only had a vague notion of what happened to get us to the point of such collapse of the human species.

I will always have the book to look forward to now.

To his credit, I cannot say a single bad thing about Will Smith's execution of his role.  He was pretty much brilliant with the material he had to work with.  But for me, the story never grabbed me or hooked me in to his struggle.

The backstory on his life immediately prior to the spread of the virus is told in these very brief vignettes and flashbacks.  It might have been better for the story if a more linear timeline could have been followed.  I dont know.  It was just very hard to buy into his role and motivation.

Anyone else see this one and feel differently?

[HorseFilms]

I know I'm a dork, but I really love The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price. It's old and low budget, but it's cool. You can watch it for free here:
http://www.archive.org/de...ils/the-last-man-on-earth

[Mus.]

It's old and low budget, but it's cool.

Old's cool (notice the clever wordplay on old school). Have you seen the film Duel? The plot is almost non-existant but I liked it. The main character is just an average man, he drives an old muscle car, he wears aviators and the whole thing takes place in a desert <3 What more do you need?

As for I Am Legend, I've read some reviews today and it mostly got two stars out of five. The main attraction is seeing New York deserted.

[thartley]

I know I'm a dork, but I really love The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price. It's old and low budget, but it's cool. You can watch it for free here:
http://www.archive.org/de...ils/the-last-man-on-earth

Wow!  I a m familiar with archive.org but did NOT know this was on there!  Thanks!

[juici]

Wow...I am looking forward to seeing the film, I hope that I will not be disappointed.

Personally, I always prefer to read the book first...and then, watch the film.

I like Will Smith, and I think that he is a pretty talented actor.  Not to mention an extreme hotty  !

juici

[thartley]

It will probably be a big help to read the book before seeing this movie, so you can fill in the holes on the screen. Will was great in the movie, btw.  You wont be disappointed there.   

[Turtle]

I Am Legend was brilliant. It's also been made official that everyone who hated the ending is a hick but as for the stroy I feel where your comming from but I have to disagree.

When he was running screaming with the grenade, I half expected uncle Phil to come down the stairs and tell him to shut up :p .

[pepperland67]

My hubby & I just saw this movie over the weekend and we both loved it. I didn't feel like it was slow, and I was on the edge of my seat most of the time. Just goes to show you how differently people can view movies I guess. 

[ZeroG]

I saw this with my son on Saturday night. I liked the movie, but would not put it at the top of my lists. I agree with thartley on the back story. I never understood why he felt so responsible and had to "fix this".

The picture came across more as a horror movie, than a sci-fi thriller. An abandoned NYC was impressive to see. Really creepy. There are some good twists and thrilling moments in the movie which make it enjoyable.

[Turtle]

I never understood why he felt so responsible and had to "fix this".

Because he helped design the vacine that caused it.

[Ming]

He helped design the vaccine. I think about 28 weeks latter while I watching it. I hope it will have a good ending but it never. I like a good ending more.

[Minigun22]

Liked the movie. How did the guy got power and water, anyway?

[PK]

He used generators for power. I think they showed the generators in one scene. For water I'm not sure. Maybe he broke into all the convenience stores and took all their bottled water.

[Ginafish]

Yes, I'm here to the party late. Wish I had remembered ZeroG's comment about 'more like horror than sci-fi'. Hubby was on the edge of his seat for the whole movie, I had to leave the room a couple of times. Ack!!

I agree with the assessment that the movie was weak on plot. I never got the fact that he had helped 'create' the virus, just that he was military and so his 'orders' were to stay at Ground Zero and come up with a cure.

Have I ever mentioned before that I absolutely detest horror movies? Most of the 'suspenseful movies', I make my sister tell me the end before I decide if I'm going to watch it. Since hubby picked "I am Legend" without me remembering the basic plot, I'm going to make him watch "The Notebook" again with me before heading to bed so I can have pleasant dreams instead of screaming things.

[Seraphim]

I'll stroll in late with this as well. I saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I agree that the plot needs some work, but I did enjoy it for the most part. As ZeroG said, there were some good plot twists and such during it. I sort of felt let down by the ending. The movie just seemed to stop for me, unfinished. They spend all of that time on the movie to wrap it up in three minutes. I know my friends whom I watched it with felt the same way. 

[thartley]

i agree with Seraphim here....all that time on the movie to wrap it up in three minutes.  I watched it again recently and my daughter and I neither one understand why Will's character didnt launch that grenade into the baddies and haul boogety inside the tunnel with the lady and the boy.  It would have been logical, but maybe that is not how the story in the book unfolds.  I dont know.

[HorseFilms]

I finally saw this a couple of nights ago. The only thing that bothered me was the CGI creatures. I thought that was a little unnecessary and nowhere near as creepy as it would've been had they used actual people.