I Am Legend (Spoiler free)

Post by **Kaylee** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:13 am

I'll try and keep the topic spoiler free

Very much recommend the new Will Smith movie to anybody here, he turned in an absolutely blinding performance. Very, very impressed indeed- he has come an incredibly long way since his days as the Fresh Prince/Alien-invasion-movie star.

The rest of the movie is adequate, but made stunning imo purely by Smith. That said it's still miles better than 28 days later (I gave up after 40 minutes simply because I realised I didn't give a monkeys about the main character or what happened to him).

Couple of issues with the movie in general: firstly two rather contrived plot devices, one to set the movie up with the outbreak of a human-made virus to cure cancer that turns everyone into monsters (not a plot spoiler since this is given to us in the first 45 seconds of the film as a flashback news broadcast) and one to end the movie ("Right lads, we've got ten minutes to wrap this up- what's the most effective way to do it?").

Secondly they ran with computer monsters rather than makeup-and-prosethetics. Not a collosal issue but CGI-humans (or in fact anything living) have a way of looking vaguely out-of-focus and rubbery.

Finally the monsters were only scary in dark places, the instant you can actually see them properly you realise they're just naff CGI humans who yell a lot and like to head-butt stuff. Basically they're really angry half-wits.

So yar, average movie overall but worth seeing (and I think what will give it rewatch value once you know all the plot twists) purely for the awesome turn from Will. I'm now of the opinion that he definitely has the abilities to go all out and do some incredible stuff, he's just got to wait for the right role.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:51 am

It's an odd one. I saw it over Christmas, but haven't passed comment on it anywhere yet. Mainly because, although I sat there and enjoyed it, I walked out without a single thing to say in regards to it.

Wasn't brilliant... wasn't rubbish... it just was. Could have been thought provoking if it was an original subject.

Ho hum.

SPOILERS? wrote: Didn't quite get why the crazies all stood back and let that one rush the glass. So much for Will's "no human behaviour" comment. Seemed very community based to me.

I was expecting the twist of "they're actually after the girl, because you stole that crazy's mate". But nooooo. That would have been too grey area.

Blah.

Post by **Best First** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:00 am

Brendocon wrote: Wasn't brilliant... wasn't rubbish... it just was. Could have been thought provoking if it was an original subject.

not seen it but literally everyone i know who has said the exact same thing.

Post by **Kaylee** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:03 am

Brendocon wrote:
SPOILERS? wrote:
I was expecting the twist of "they're actually after the girl, because you stole that crazy's mate". But nooooo. That would have been too grey area.
Blah.

TBH I'm glad they didn't, felt it would have been a little obvious.

They also can't quite work out what time of day it is at a couple of points in the movie- it's nighttime out of one window then in another room it's bright daylight :S

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:24 am

I like the fact that he goes to sleep in his bathtub, yet wakes up in bed.

Post by **Kaylee** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:33 am

Brendocon wrote:I like the fact that he goes to sleep in his bathtub, yet wakes up in bed.

That confused me

Maybe it's some sort of magic bathtub?

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:03 am

Found it gripping and very scary until the vampires turned up. A truly awful decision to make them CGI. A textbook example of why sometimes the old ways are the best.

Will was very good in some parts, but in others he seemed to be playing himself.

What I did like was his reactions when the woman turned up. He looked frighteningly unhinged. Normally a film like this would be from, say, her perspective, meeting the seemingly mad person two thirds in (if you get my meaning).

Was rather impressed with Emma Thompson's tiny cameo. (Has she ever been bad in anything?)

28 Days Later is a gazillion times better with a zillionth of the budget IMO.

Brendocon wrote: So much for Will's "no human behaviour" comment.

Yeah didn't get that. They could lay complex traps. They stayed in communities. And head vampire came back for his captured wife/daughter/whatever.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:05 am

spiderfrommars wrote:Was rather impressed with Emma Thompson's tiny cameo.

They still found a way to make the villain English.

Post by **Kaylee** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:21 am

On a more positive note for the CGI, the empty and overgrown new york was very impressive

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:26 am

The animals looked cack.

Hrm. I think I may have just formed an opinion on the film in general.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:29 am

If the movie was only about Will Smith's character piece, and some gorgeous postapocalyptic cinematography, then this would have been a great movie.

Sadly though, stories must also contain a......wait for it.......good story. And this, I felt is where the movie fell flat. And yes, most of this feeling has its roots in the s***tiest, most contrived ending I've seen in a movie in a long time.

SPOILER WARNING

If you want to do a zombie movie, where the monsters are mindless bloodthirsty killers, then please go ahead. But why are you going to foreshadow with virtually EVERY encounter that they're NOT bloodthirsty monsters, they are still people, they still feel, they still love, etc. etc, and then end the movie not only WITHOUT resolving this undercurrent, but with the protagonist still ignorant to their humanity?

Also, why would you spend the last half of the movie portraying Will Smith as a beaten, obsessed man, fighting a battle that's already over (See: all the scenes with the mother and child), showing that he can't move on from his failure, that he's trying to fix a situation that's out of his control, only to COMPLETLY vindicate his Ahab complex in the last five minutes with a cure that came literally from nowhere?

After that, I have to state as a disclaimer that I'm familiar with the original work, and much preferred it. I know this movie couldn't have been that work, nor did I walk in expecting it to. But I DID expect a resolution that wasn't as sugary sweet as this one. I didn't expect I Am Legend to have the same meaning as the book, but I didn't expect it to mean "I Am Legend because I found the cure and saved the day! Yay!" until the last five minutes, where I dropped my popcorn.

You know another thing that spoiled that ending for me? The Mist. I LOOOOOOOVED that Stephen King short story as a kid, and having a full movie version of it was like mana from the Gods. But, being as how the original short story ended ambigiously (hey, it's a short story), I was interested to see what happened AFTER the text story ended. I don't want to spoil that movie for anyone, so I'll be vague, but the ending to the movie version gave you both a happy, tie up the loose ends movie ending but STILL managed to capture the "WTF? Damn, that SUCKS" ending of the original work. Which only made I Am Legend that much poorer in my eyes.

But yeah, busted up version of NYC? Kick ass.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 12:23 pm

Karl Lynch wrote:On a more positive note for the CGI, the empty and overgrown new york was very impressive

Definitely. Guess that's where all the money went.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:44 pm

Stripping aside the CGI and stuff for a minute, how does the plot of this compare with the book?

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:25 pm

Rebis wrote:Stripping aside the CGI and stuff for a minute, how does the plot of this compare with the book?

Well they completely dropped the ball on Yorick for a start. 355 isn't in it at all.

Oh, and they turned Ampersand into a dog.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:18 am

Brendocon wrote:
SPOILERS? wrote:I was expecting the twist of "they're actually after the girl, because you stole that crazy's mate". But nooooo. That would have been too grey area.

SPOILERS? wrote:Apparently that was how the movie was supposed to end originally, but they changed it. I remember there was at least one scene in trailer that wasn't in the movie (and it looked to me like it could be from the other ending).

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:15 pm

Ozz wrote:
Brendocon wrote:
SPOILERS? wrote:I was expecting the twist of "they're actually after the girl, because you stole that crazy's mate". But nooooo. That would have been too grey area.

SPOILERS? wrote:Apparently that was how the movie was supposed to end originally, but they changed it. I remember there was at least one scene in trailer that wasn't in the movie (and it looked to me like it could be from the other ending).

SPOILERS? wrote:So, nothing like the book, then.