I am Legend [SPOILERS]

[Gambit37]

Hello fellow film fans. I just saw this last night and would like to discuss it. Anyone else seen it yet? I don't wanna post too much stuff yet if no-one's seen it as it could spoil it for you.

[Christopher]

I saw it and did not enjoy it much. Will seemed to over-act, even for those circumstances. The ending was ridiculous. I can't really explain why because I can't make my text small. I'd rather watch Last Man on Earth or even the Omega Man instead. The "vampires" looked okay though. It's okay for a movie to be as slow as this was if it at least has a pay off at the end. This was crap. I think I gave it a 4 or 5 on IMDb.

Edit: Since spoilers is mentioned in the topic:

The fact that he hadn't tried his own blood as the cure up until then is ridiculous, as is the way he finally found out that his blood is the cure. I hope this one becomes a Rifftrax.

[beowuuf]

You see, I liked the acting of Will Smith. I liked the starting idea. Then the creatures come out of the bag - or rather, come out of the CGI programme, and I just lost interest.

I think the emotional resonance and terror would have been maintained with real humans in the roles with good make up, backed up by CGI when necessary (I can think of one effective scene with that) would have been great. The CGI creatures for me were just...meh. Yeah, CGI can look realistc, but it is still CGI. IT just seemed cartoonish, and I lost any real grounding in a real story after that.

And yes, the actual pay off in the last third of the film was a little to pat (though I guess the entire point of the plot is that you can explain away anything that looks too convienient). And really I didn't like it as a pay off. If more time had passed before the last third, if more time was spend with all the consequences, and if the whole religeous thing had been toned down, it might have been interesting.

I must admit, I had thought something else was happening with the lead Darkseeker, perhaps to do with the captured one. I guess I was wrong, and it was just supposed to be intelligent enough to get food.

Ah well, I think a wasted opportunity really - and is this the plot of the book or has that been butchered?

[Gambit37]

I actually enjoyed it -- it only fell apart after he was rescued by the woman and her son. *That* seemed so unbelievable, that I actually thought maybe he was hallucinating the whole thing and hadn't actually gone out on a death wish after all, and that in his delusion he had 'created' Anna and the boy as a way of dealing with his grief over losing the only friend that had kept him going -- Sam the dog. I fully expected him to wake up at some point! But that would have been a stretch, even for Hollywood...

I really enjoyed the slow build-up of his solitary exploration of the city -- I thought it was all very well done. It was eerie and unsettling seeing an abandoned NYC, especially on a bright sunny day. I take a strange delight in dereliction, so this really worked for me.

I thought Will Smith did really well in this, though I could have done without some of the humour and the Shrek bit annoyed me intensely. I think he would have been more weird after three years alone and not quite so funny... anyway, he had only got up to the 'G's!

I agree the ending was cheesy. Apparently, their was another ending originally: Alpha Male Darkseeker had come to collect Alpha Female, Neville hands her over, and he, Anna and the Boy are allowed to escape to Vermont. Remember in the trailer a shot of Alpha Male screaming at a very pissed looking Neville against a yellowy background? I wondered why that wasn't in the film -- test groups didn't like that ending. It too would have been cheesy, but actually more interesting in many respects -- as you point out Beo.

EDIT, here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/graphic ... bfwill.jpg

I didn't mind the darkseekers. They were quite creepy when you could only just see them out of shot. When they were finally revealed was when all suspense evaporated for me (though my new GF kept jumping out of her skin at all the proper moments and nearly taking chunks out of my leg in the process!). I was spooked by the shot of them moshing in the corner -- were they asleep or eating the deer? It reminded me a bit of the last scene of Blair Witch -- quite spooky that bit.

There were a lot of plot holes but I can ignore those in the interest of enjoying the film for what it was. I thought I had seen The Omega Man but after seeing this, I realised I hadn't -- I was thinking of Soylent Green!

The religious aspect didn't bother me. You could take it or leave it. She and he had opposing views that didn't really affect the outcome of the film, unless you want to read something into the butterfly comment and the fact she was 'told' to come and find him. Maybe she was mad too, it doesn't matter ultimately.

Hmmm.. I'll probably think of more to say at some point.

[linflas]

i liked it but i would have prefered a more original ending.
i was also bored with the idea : "hello i'm will smith and i save the world" (again).
anyway, good ambient movie : creepy vampires, empty new york city... i recommend it to be seen on cinema instead of a little tv.

[beowuuf]

Yeah, out of shot still creepy. The huddle was very freaky.

And I knew that was where the plotline was going, so I then went 'oh, I'm being weird' when it didn't play out at all like that.

[Adamo]

what is it? another mindless survival horror, like "Dawn of the dead"? I lov`em !! (I haven`t read your posts yet not to spoil the movie!!)

[Gambit37]

Survival Horror? I guess so. Mindless? Perhaps a little in places.

It's about Will Smith believing he is the last man on Earth after a 'cure for cancer' virus goes wrong and wipes everyone out. Based on a book of the same name written in 1954 (and set in the early 70s), it's a modern update that changes quite a lot from the book.

It's bleak and desolate with some action thrown in for good measure.