Oh, The Horror! #14 : I Am Legend

What if you were the only man alive left in NYC?

I saw this movie when it came out and thought it was merely okay. I didn't enjoy the experience though due to annoying ass girls behind my friends and I who saw it fit to talk and give their own commentary throughout the whole movie. But anywho, that's besides the point...

I watched it again a few days ago this time with my baby sister and still can't seem to decide if I enjoyed it or not. I really loved the first hour of the movie with Will Smith doing his daily routines along with his partner-in-crime and best bud, Sam, his canine. He exercises and goes hunting for deers to eat in NYC. Oh, did I forget to mention that he's the only man alive in the city? He's walking around everyday, picking out movies to watch, and talking to mannequins. He also broadcasts on the radio a message out to any survivors out there. At home he's trying to find a cure for the disease that wiped out about 90% of people in the world with not much luck. One day on another hunting trip, something goes wrong where we are introduced to the Darkseekers, vampire-like creatures that only come out at dark in search of survivors to devour. The story really begins to pick up though is when Smith's character, Neville, captures a female Darkseeker to experiment, not knowing she was in fact the alpha female of her group. This leads to an intense rivalry between him and the alpha male of the group. And man, lemme say that it is intense and one of the most fun watching in the movie. Despite all that, the movie starts to take a bit of a downfall during the second half of the film. We find out that he just may not be the only man on Earth when he meets a woman and her son and a lot of the intrigue just seems to disappear from me. Also, a story of faith and God just appears out of nowhere. I didn't quite mind that part of the movie, bu I can understand how people may feel confused as to why it just appeared and seemed rather ham-fisted into the story.

The effects are alright, not great. I remember reading originally the Darkseekers were played completely by people until director, Francis Lawrence, decided to just turn them CGI. I think that was a bit of a mistake as they looked, well... very CGI. I believe that it took some edge and creepiness off of the Darkseekers themselves. Although once again the Alpha Male is just simply bad-ass.

Overall, I don't think I'd recommend this film fully. There's aspects I loved, especially the first half and I loved Smith in this movie. I absolutely loved his last scene in the film store. You really felt for him and understood his state of mind at that point of the movie. Man...