I Am Legend

Francis Lawrence follows up the underrated Constantine with the similar I Am Legend, not that they have too much in common but not that they're not quite like other big budget action movies. Instead of being loaded with testosterone, the film gets by with lots and lots of atmosphere. From the opening fake newscast to the eerily overrun New York landscape to the effective flashbacks, it creates a believable, depressing atmosphere that's much scarier than its CG monsters. Scientists re-engineered a virus to destroy cancer cells but it ended up killing most of the people on earth and turning the bulk of those who survived into ravenous beasts who burn when exposed to sunlight. Part of what's so creepy about it is that it seems possible, if not the quasi-vampire part then at least the pandemic caused by tampering with nature. Will Smith is all alone with his dog, trying to find a cure while desperately attempting to maintain some sort of human interaction. They don't really show it in the trailers, but he isn't quite all there anymore mentally, and Smith's handling of a character trying to cling to some hope in a hopeless world is really not something you usually see in this kind of movie.

There are some problems, my main one being the aforementioned computer generated vampires. It just wasn't necessary. I firmly believe CG should only be used when it has to be, when it's the only way to accomplish a shot. In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Davy Jones was a mo-capped CG character, and I didn't notice. I thought it was a guy in an elaborate costume. This is the only time I have EVER been tricked by a CG character shown that close up. Andy Serkis' performance as Gollum was great, but I was still aware I was watching a 3D model the whole time. It doesn't matter how good your animators are, people can still tell when something, especially something that is supposed to be human, isn't actually there. This was definitely the case with I Am Legend. The vampires didn't even look close to real people. Sure, they can jump around and smash into glass walls and be vicious beasts, but they look like cartoons. I thought it would have been much more effective with real people, acting as insane as possible. Everything else feels so authentic, the bad guys just broke the illusion. The movie also broke down a little at the end, although I thought the resolution was really better than what I've heard of the book's. The dog is also one of the best animal characters I've seen in a movie. If you like this kind of movie and don't mind a little depression, check it out.