I am Legend

The short review: Will Smith is excellent and so's the dog but ultimately this film is depressing and suffers from a badly written second half. The film's success is solely
down to Smith's star power and the timing of its release following months of pretty dull movies. I for one was gagging for a cinematic spectacle.

Based on a novel by Richard Matheson, I am Legend tells the story of Robert Neville who could be the last man on an earth ravaged by a virus that has turned most of humanity, and their pet dogs, into a cross between vampires and zombies. Luckily the blighters only come out at night so our hero can pretty much keep out of their way while he toils in his basement laboratory to find a cure. Well, that's when he's not hunting them down to perform experiments on them or trying to commit suicide. Ironically the virus mutated from a cure for cancer discovered by a Emma Thompson. Always knew that woman was trouble.

Neville broadcasts a message on the radio every day in the search for other survivors. Now, in flashback, we learn that the army blows up bridges etc in an effort to isolate Manhattan, the heart of the virus outbreak. We also find out that there is a colony of survivors co-ordinated by what's left of the armed forces. So how come what's left of the armed forces don't pick up Smith's radio broadcasts? And when a woman and her kid turn up and rescue him from a pack of vampire-zombies, just how did she 1) manage that. In the movie is just looked like she had a very strong torch! 2) Survive the trip all the way up from South American and get through the blockades in her 4x4 and still look so damn good?

It's a shame they couldn't have worked harder on the script and it's also a shame that Smith's character dies. The audience had to suffer enough loss in this bleak film. But still, it prompted me to dig out my Bob Marley CD, so not all bad.