I Am Legend [2007]
Director: Francis Lawrence
Actor: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan
There’s been quite a bit of talk about this film, which isn’t surprising since it’s a film based on a book, but also because of one particular scene in the film, which I’ll discuss a bit later. First, it used to be a novell by Richard Matheson and there are many different point on which it differs. Having read a synopsis of the book, I can understand how people can consider another case of intellectual property rape in order to create mass appeal, but…that doesn’t mean the film isn’t good, because it is. It’s very good, even.
.: The Film
Robert Nevill (Smith) is a virologist working for the U.S. Army as the so-called Krippin Virus starts an epidemic of global proportions, starting in New York City. The Krippin Virus was a genetically engineered version of the measles, which was used as a very effective cure against cancer. At a certain, unexplained point, the virus mutated and became something akin to Ebola. It’s not made clear in the movie what the effects were exactly, except that people “blead to death.” There’s a short clip of a woman showing early signs of being infected, blood dripping from her tear-ducts. Ninety percent of the people infected died within hours, while others turned into so-called Darkseekers, a cross between vampires and zombies; creatures with an intense physical strength and an overpowering hunger, filled with aggression beyond the point of cognisance. They have an intense aversion and allergy against UV light, which drives them to find shelter during the day and roam free during the night.
Robert is one of the very few people who is immune to the virus, and after living and surviving in New York City he believes he is the only remaining human survivor, while all others are either dead from infection or at the hands of the Darkseekers. He is determined to stay in New York in order to find a cure, to find a way to reverse the effects on the Darkseekers. He uses his own blood as the basis for experiments he conducts on captured Darkseekers, hoping to find a cure. He also hunts and gathers during the day, maintaining his fortress-home and stable of vehicles. Slowly but surely, disillusioned by his failed experiments and loneliness, he goes mad and becomes increasingly suicidal, willing to take incredible risks.
I think the acting is top-notch. Smith delivers a stunning performance of a man who is so starved for human contact that he decorates a video store with mannequins, holds conversations with them, to create the illusion of being among the people. His only contact is his dog, who he holds long conversations with. He also suffers from spells during which he becomes almost catatonic. The thing, however, that Smith manages to portray best is disappointment. Even in little things, disappointment almost seems to wreck him inside. You can see him dying a little every time something goes wrong. Great great great.
Seeing New York City completely empty, in disarray, and overgrown by weeds is just plain creepy. Wildlife has repopulated the city, and deer, birds and predators are running wild. The Holland Tunnel has flooded and the bridges off the island are still collapsed; an act by the U.S. armed forces in order to cut off the island of Manhattan from the rest of the world, hoping to stop the spread of the infection.
.: The Scene (Spoilers)
The scene that’s causing all the debate is about midway through the film, while Robert is hunting. “Hunting” means he’s driving around in one of his cars, hoping to spot some deer. He stumbles upon one of the mannequins that he has stationed just outside of the video store. He always says hello to “Fred” just as he walks inside. He suddenly spots Fred in a completely different spot in the city. He stops the car, gets out, approaches the mannequin, yelling at Fred to talk to him, in order to find out whether or not it’s really him. In the end, he shoots Fred with his rifle. He’s obviously devastated when he realises it really was Fred and not one of the Darkseekers. As he approaches, he’s caught in a trap, almost identical to the one he manufactures to capture the Darkseekers. He loses consciousness as he hits his head on the pavement, and is raised high up in the air, hanging by a his leg, suspended above the ground. He wakes up to the barking of his dog just as the sun is going down, and a Darkseeker alpha male approaches with three infected dogs and set upon Robert and his dog. In that exchange his dog is bitten and infected but they manages to get away. Later, when the dog turns, he has to kill it, and another part of him dies, sending him ever closer to the suicidal edge.
The debate is whether or not Robert set the trap or if the Darkseeker did. The setup of the trap is different than what Robert is used to. He never used a mannequin to set a trap, instead using a vial of his own blood as the bait, as the Darkseekers are attracted to the scent of blood. However, Darkseekers are portrayed as retarded killing machines, having no regard for anything, even their own safety, in their quest to feed. And even though there was a quick appearance of a Darkseeker alpha male that showed heightened resistance to UV, and is also first on the scene when Robert awakens in the trap, I feel that the trap was set by Robert, and that his advanced insanity was the cause for his memory loss.
.: The Novel
The novel shows Robert to be a very average, middle-aged guy, battling alcoholism and depression, who is not trying to find a cure, but is just trying to survive and kill as many vampires as he can. However, while there are vampires, there are also others infected by the virus that are called “the still living,” who are not the same and who retain their cognisance and aren’t just mindlessly in search of food. Robert doesn’t know this because the still living are as afflicted by the strange comatose state that the vampires are in while the sun is out, so he kills the still living and vampires alike. Eventually he is caught by the still living and executed in their newly formed society. It turns out they are terrified of Robert, as he is to them, what vampires were to humans; a myth, a legend. He becomes what he is afraid of. He becomes the legend.
There are a lot of elements in the novel that never make it to the silver screen, and while they did try to turn that aspect of Robert turning into a legend into it – I guess to justify the title of the movie – it doesn’t work well. It would’ve been better if they had found a way to stay a little truer to the original story. However, the ending to the film isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, just not quite as powerful.