I Am Legend (2007)

	Directed by: Francis Lawrence	COUNTRY USA GENRE Science Fiction/Horror NORWEGIAN TITLE I Am Legend RUNNING TIME 101 minutes
	Produced by: Akiva Goldsman David Heyman James Lassiter Neal H. Moritz Erwin Stoff
	Written by (based on the novel by Richard Matheson): Akiva Goldsman Mark Protosevich

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Robert Neville	Will Smith	½
Anna	Alice Braga	½
Ethan	Charlie Tahan
Zoe	Salli Richardson
Marley	Willow Smith
Alpha Male	Dash Mihok
Alpha Female	Joanna Numata

Review

Warner Bros. had planned a remake of their original adaptation of I Am Legend – 1971's Omega Man starring Charlton Heston – since 1994. The end product appears only thirteen years later, with the project being shelved more than once due to budget concerns and contractual differences. In retrospect, this delay seems fortunate. Not only did we avoid sitting through I Am Legend as interpreted by Michael Bay or with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead, but in the current global situation, the prospect set out in the film may feel closer and more relevant than in a long time. Director Francis Lawrence has a clear vision for his film, and even if it in many respects differs from Richard Matheson's novel, and is arguably polished for Hollywood, the tone and the delicacy of the scenario will probably delight the ageing writing genius.

Will Smith is a timely choice in the lead as Robert Neville, and he does remarkably well on his own – acting against none other than his companion German shepherd as the two roam the empty streets of New York. It's a tough position to put an actor in, especially since the rhythm and progression of how he reveals his situation and mental state to the viewer is crucial for his character's authenticity. Smith succeeds admirably, fortifying his recent transformation from comedic actor to bona fide thespian.

Lawrence's direction has its weaknesses, but the depiction of a desolate New York City is not one of them. The film's opening is breathtaking, presenting a stillness that doesn't evoke the usual horror setting of exaggerated spookiness, but rather gets under your skin by suggesting how life will go on without us – how there will never be an end, only evolution. It's a calm Indian summer where bees and grasshoppers provide the city's buzz – a haunting reminder.

The narrative structure of I Am Legend is appropriately conventional. We learn to live Neville's daily life with him and we reminisce about those chaotic days of political and public despair when the virus infested the city and his current solitude began. We assume Neville's priorities and values in life, and we experience involuntary close encounters with the dangers he faces when his beloved dog runs off into insecure territory. The direction in this part of the film is brilliant, as we're given the same amount of control as Neville. Lawrence captures all the genre-specific characteristics of a horror film without forsaking the essence of a well-told human drama or a fairly realistic science fiction story.

The final third of I Am Legend contains a few unfortunate choices that somewhat weaken the overall impression and effect of the film. This is a crucial part where Lawrence and screenwriters Goldsman and Protosevich could have elevated I Am Legend into one of the best sci-fi films of recent decades. In the end, they can't quite manage this, and Hollywood's biblical tendencies and the absence of Matheson's concluding brilliance may have to take some of the blame. Still, this does not change the fact that the film delivers one of the most captivating apocalyptic scenarios in a long time.