 I am Legend
Plot Summary Will Smith is the sole survivor of a man made virus gone wrong. He lives in New York with his dog Sam who is his only companion and partner in their bid to survive. They live among those who have been infected by the virus which makes people into mutant zombie vampires. They can’t hack sun light and aren't too bright (more on this later). Unlike normal zombies these ones are fast, strong and have some intelligence. A day in the life of a sole survivor Morning: exercise, gather food. Mid day relax, have a hit of golf, hunt some deer. Afternoon-evening work in lab to develop a cure. Twilight to dawn: bunker down, hide, survive for that’s when the zombies come out to hunt you and eat you.
Not horror but Scary This film is not a horror film, it isn’t gory as such but it is scary. We get to meet the zombies bit by bit. Sam (the dog) chases a deer into a dark building and Robert (Will Smith) goes in to save his dog. This is no American He-Man movie. Robert is petrified, particularly when he comes across a whole room full of zombies, run Will Run!!! What is really creepy is that there seems to be a zombie in charge who learns from Robert and tracks and hunts Robert. This raises the scariness a lot. These are no mindless creatures that are easy to dispatch. They are fast, they are strong and they are starving for his blood. Silence The first thing you might notice in this film is silence. There is a lot of it, not much background mood inducing music. The silence adds to the sense of isolation and spookiness. **Warning: Plot Spoiler** This idea is picked up on by the woman who says to Will that she has heard God speaking to her. The reason for this is that the world is a quiet place now. It is hard to imagine real silence. I’ve lived in the country for 5 years and when you go out onto a farm what hits you is the silence. There are no distant cars or planes to be heard, just birds and wind. Listen to God The implication is that maybe our lives are too noisy and too busy? Maybe we should slow down and not be so afraid of silence? Perhaps we might dare to unplug the iPod for a while and just listen. Maybe we should give God a chance to speak into our lives? The Legend of the world Robert develops an antidote for the virus using his own blood, testing it on animals and then on zombies which he catches and sedates. All of this is not new. Jesus Christ is only man to walk on this earth without being infected. He shed his blood on the cross to be the cure and the antidote to the virus which makes us angry with God. By faith we receive the antidote and are made alive to God, able to see God and hear God working in our lives. We only become truly human when we have been given spiritual life. Until them we are much like the zombies in this film, deadly, scary, and hiding for the light. Not for wimps This film hits hard, it doesn’t really pull a lot of punches the way you might expect it to, so be warned. There is not a lot of humour or rest for the audience in this film like in iRobot, so it’s heavier going than I expected. Disappointment The leader zombie’s intelligence is not explored or explained. I found that disappointing. How the woman saved him is very vague, how the zombies survive is not explained. I wanted to know what they ate; animals, each other? The ending was rushed and underdeveloped. I think this film should have been longer so that they could have spent more time developing the Zombies, how he spent his time and the ending. Will Smith Essentially this film rests on Will Smith’s performance which I enjoyed. The main thing is that Will carried a believable performance. He starts losing it mentally, having lost everyone in the world and having to live on his own for three years with the stress of being hunted every night by zombies. Rating 3.5 stars Excellent atmosphere, great story (even though based on book and previous film), great dog, great acting, overall a good thriller. |
