nan | 楠木

Will Smith’s new sci-fi flick I am Legend boasts a strong first hour, and while it derails during its final 30 minutes, it still makes for a thought-provoking and entertaining viewing experience.

Set in the not-too-distant future (New York, 2012), Smith plays Robert Neville, an army scientist and apparent sole survivor of a devastating virus, which ironically was once thought to be a cure for cancer. Neville lives alone with his German shepherd Sam as his faithful companion. The two goes out in the day time, riding around the desolate city and waiting in vain for other survivors to appear. They dare not stay out after dark – people infected with the virus were either killed, or more frighteningly, turned to zombie-like creatures who are afraid of sunlight.

The film thematically is quite close to previous sci-fi films like Children of Men which also feature a dystopian future. The FX department deserves credit for the visuals of a haunted New York city – abandoned streets overrun with grass, rundown apartments, and a wild cornfield in central park. The visuals of the zombies are less appealing, for which the film has received a lot of flak, but the dystopian effect presented is fairly outstanding.

For the first hour, we mainly follow Neville around on his daily errands – getting up, having breakfast while watching recorded TV shows; doing some wild game hunting downtown; going into the local DVD store to “rent” some DVDs; capturing the occasional zombie for testing; and finally locking down the house before sundown. It’s an extremely effective character study of a man living in solitude, akin to Cast Away. Some of the little details, thanks to Smith’s superb performance, are brilliant in showing the loneliness of our protagonist, who is slowly slipping down the path to insanity. It is during these moments that this film is most powerful.

Around the hour-mark, the plot takes a major turn, and the film moves into new but unsatisfactory territory. The remainder of the film is much more straightforward, and the pace is accelerated with the final action sequence thrown in. The ending is somewhat of a cop out – it is understandable for a commercial flick to have an ending with hope, but the plot device used is just… too convenient.

Will Smith deserves full credit for his acting. The most memorable parts of this film are completely driven by his haunting portrayal. With this film, I am putting him into my list of favorite actors (not that this means anything to anyone but me…) – it’s hard not to like him.

7/10