I Am Legend
Kara and I got to go see Will Smith's new sci-fi dystopian flick, I Am Legend this past week. I had been looking forward to this film since I saw the first trailer so I've been trying to avoid all the trailers since to preserve at least some kind of surprise. I find that these blockbusters have a tendency to get over exposed in their trailers. So after almost a month of shielding my eyes every time the trailer would come on tv we finally were able to see the flick.
[spoilers to follow from here on out]
I was happily surprised at much of the film, for instance the opening sequence where Robert Neville (played by Smith) is deer hunting in downtown Manhattan by chasing his prey down in a Ford Mustang with an assault rifle hanging out the window was eerily reminiscent of one of the first scenes of 28 Days Later where the streets of London are entirely abandoned. At times Legend had the kind of adrenaline inducing scenes of anxiety mixed with terror (the scene when Smith gets trapped by the "dark seekers" is particularly well done), but what I was most surprised about and most appreciative of was Smith's performance. He masterfully portrays a scientist wrecked by tragedy after tragedy who is in turn driven and disciplined to fix what has happened around him. But no amount of testing rats with "the virus" is enough to keep this man from crumbling under the weight of being so alone. Smith portrays Neville as being on the verge of entirely losing it if not for the companionship of his German Shepherd, Sam. Neville's relationship with Sam reminded me of Chuck Noland's relationship with the volleyball Wilson in Cast Away. Sam becomes Neville's best friend, conversation partner, child.
It's not a flawless film by any means but the criticisms I would have would only make for a longer film (which I'm almost always for anyhow). One thing that was puzzling about the film was the shift at the very end when it apparently becomes a tribute biopic of the fictional Robert Neville. It's a great film to check out this holiday season for both the suspense and Smith's performance.
Labels: Film
posted by Charlie at 1:24 PM
4 Comments:
Thanks for you comments on "I am Legend." My wife and I just went to the movie last night here in South Korea. I really liked the line where the lady asked why would God do this and Smith's character responded, "God didn't do this, we did this."
On another note--I don't know how I came upon your blog but it is on my blog reader. As I was just reading your bio info I was surprised to read the you are a Nazarene--so am I, and that you are married to Kara Lyons. I don't know Kara but I do know her father, George. I just finished taking and online class from him. I used to live in Boise, very near NNU and am an alumnus of NNU.
Currently my family and I are living in South Korea. If you are interested my blog is www.ryanmroberts.com
Thanks for you posts.
Ryan
I agree with your insights of the movie I too like Will Smith's acting in this film and also felt same connections to Cast Away and 28 Days Later. My wife and I also liked the movie. The only thing I would have liked to see is the "dark seekers" to have been actors and not computer animations, I think that would have been better, the animation could have been added to their movements in the dark and shade but close ups should have been real people, that would have made it more intense. But over all great movie
Charlie,
I love this movie!! Mike and I went to see on New Years day. I was blown away. this movie made sit and wait for the next turn of the film. I even embarrassingly got little jumpy. But Will Smith's performance was excellent. I think it might be one of his best. What do you think of some of the messages that the film was stating? One of the questions that still ponders me is that film wants to challenge the notion of solving life's health problems such as cancer needing to be cured through genetics? Should be cautious of always finding the cure through means of genetics and vaccination/ Should then some life's problems just left to be fix by life itself? Whether or not it corrects a dilemma such as Cancer, HIV/Aids and other diseases that don't have a cure?
Alright that all I have to say for now!
-Ryland
I love your blog Chuck!
Every time I sit down and read it I just have to sigh...really wish there were a few more people in my area who I could discuss a lot of the issues you cover in your blog. I always feel like I can talk about either religion or politics with most my friends but very rarely are they allowed to intersect much. It's really a breathe of fresh air. About the movie: I thought the greatest part, like Ryan, was the line "God didn't do this, we did". Just makes me think about what is our relationship to the rest of creation, what is our relationship to our own bodies and our environment in light of an all powerful creator? Doesn't it seem amazingly presumptuous to assume that in truly understand the long-term consequences of playing with the building blocks of life at all (genetic modification). Just thinking back to WWII and how little was known about the long term consequences of the Atomic bomb, radiation, etc. and now we are doing the same thing with genetics...maybe the thing that will kill us all won't be a viral cure for cancer but that 3 generations down the road we all become infertile as a longterm side-affect of GM foods (Watch Children of Men if you haven't already - similar to this film but also great). The other thing I thought this film showed well was the way the Earth works to reclaim itself. Just thinking about the damage we do to our planet and yet if we would be willing to get out of the way the planet would reclaim/repair a lot very quickly. Gives some perspective on the idea of "permanence" of humanity/society/modernism etc seeing New York city starting to become overgrown.
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