Got to squeeze in one more movie before I begin my way back down to Raleigh and saw I Am Legend.
Whether fair or not, I have a tendency to compare new films with ones I have previously seen. The first one that came to mind when watching this was Cast Away. Like Tom Hanks in that film, Will Smith gives a tour de force performance by himself here. It's not easy to play off nothing but inanimate objects, but Smith does it nicely. It's hard to believe the "Fresh Prince" would ever be considered a legitimate actor, but over the past few years he's really exhibited some excellent acting chops. The film does a great job of displaying his isolation and you really feel the anguish he's in as a result of this situation.
Another film that I was reminded of was War of the Worlds. This was mostly because of the few flashback scenes that showed people trying to leave the infected area of New York. What I noticed in the comparison between the two films was that this one in just a few scenes did a better job of showing mass panic related to a worldwide catastrophe. This film succeeded in showing the pain everyone was in as a result of the situation, while WotW was primarily another egostroke picture for Tom Cruise.
But the film that I think is most comparable to this one was Signs. What's interesting is that they took two different approaches to the same idea. In Signs the goal seemed to be to bludgeoning us over with theme and making sure we understood the main character's motivations. The creatures in that film were secondary. On the other hand, I felt that I Am Legend spent too much time with its Dark Seeker creatures. At times, the film came dangerously close to being a simple, cheesy horror flick.
While I have not read Matheson's short story that the film was based on, but my instinct says that it was a bit more complex and cerebral than the film made it out to be. There are some obvious themes of science vs. faith touched upon in the film, yet they are not given the adequate time to make them feel worthwhile. It seems to me that if you're content with being a simple thriller than they shouldn't even bother with those ideas to begin with. Ideally, though I'd like to see a film that would find a good balance between I Am Legend and Signs.
There are several aspects of the film that I liked, but also felt they could have used expansion. For instance, I would have loved to see more of Robert Neville's life in isolation. The scenes we got were very poignant and deserved more time. I also believed that more flashback scenes would have been helpful. Seeing more about how the virus developed and how those involved with it dealt with it, would have provided more impact to the film's final scenes.
Without giving too much away, when Neville begins to question whether there are other survivors or not, we're not given enough to understand why Neville holds such beliefs. It is these motivations which ultimately lead to Neville's major heroic act, yet it does not pack the emotional punch that it deserves because of that lack of a backstory.
Since the film decides to focus more on the monsters than character development, it should be credited for delivering some legitimate scares. There are several scenes which literally made me jump in my seat. Just thinking about living in a world like that gives me chills. And I don't think I'll ever listen to Bob Marley's 'Three Little Birds' the same way again. The bottom line here is that if you are looking for a good thriller, than this is a really good film to go check out.
In the end, the film is quality entertainment, but it may not be exactly what you expect. I believe based on the sufficient thrills and chills and the exceptional performance by Will Smith, I can give this an easy recommendation. I expect that when I'm looking for decent popcorn fare, I won't have a problem watching this again. If I desire something that require me to think more, however, I may opt for something else. Grade: B
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