yet another instance where Smith does all he can, but his material ultimately fails him.
I Am Legend (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:204
Fresh:140
Rotten:64
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: I Am Legend overcomes questionable special effects and succeeds largely on the strength of Will Smith's mesmerizing performance.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:26-12-2007
Synopsis: Will Smith is Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a New York City where streets are overgrown and deer gambol among deserted automobiles. Following an epidemic, the Earth's population has been... Will Smith is Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a New York City where streets are overgrown and deer gambol among deserted automobiles. Following an epidemic, the Earth's population has been turned into an army of nocturnal zombies. Immune to the virus, military scientist Neville searches for a cure in his Washington Square townhouse. Haunted by visions of his family leaving quarantined Manhattan two years prior, he drives through the city with his German Shepherd, Sam, by day and barricades his home from the monsters nightly. But when Anna (Alice Braga)--another immune stranger-finds him, they will have to fight the onslaught twice as hard. Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich's emotionally-charged script showcases the charisma of Smith, who commands the screen alone for most of the picture (aside Abbey, a talented German Shepherd). Director Francis Lawrence (CONSTANTINE) uses music minimally, wisely allowing the eerie cityscapes to remain mostly silent. The set pieces, including an overgrown, deserted Times Square and a lion hunting a deer in the Flatrion District, are goosebump-inducing moments of stark beauty. Though some may question the rendering of the monsters in CGI instead of using actors, it does allow them to be frighteningly acrobatic. A chilling and effective adaptation of a horror classic, I AM LEGEND is also a thought-provoking piece of Hollywood filmmaking. [More]
Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith, Charlie Tahan
Director: Francis Lawrence
Director: Francis Lawrence
Screenwriter: Mark Protosevich, Akiva Goldsman
Producer: Akiva Goldsman, James Lassiter, David Heyman, Neal Moritz
Composer: James Newton Howard
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for I Am Legend
I don't know how well I Am Legend will hold up on repeat viewings, or over time -- but while it's happening, I Am Legend is a slick, scary, superbly made action/science fiction/horror film with a lot more art, heart and smarts than you'd expect.
It looks like poor old Richard Matheson will go to his grave without ever seeing a movie that does justice to his great 1954 novel, I Am Legend.
Director Francis Lawrence makes eerie, effective use of New York City locations drained of human activity, shooting them for maximum anxiety and agoraphobia.
Maybe not the most uplifting choice for a holiday flick, but Smith's riveting performance and tight action scenes make this a smart, gripping view of the end of the world.
Smith is, as always, a likable hero, and his unforced performance is definitely a saving grace.
The silence, the suspense, and Smith's accessible performance draw you in for some post-apocalyptic fun.
In spite of its third-act collapse into obviousness and sentimentality, I Am Legend is among Will Smith's better movies.
The movie year's most expensive and ambitious sci-fi spectacular, I Am Legend, is three movies in one: a futuristic effects-o-rama, a zombie thriller and a survivalist parable. Each is better than average, and the experience is fairly gripping.
Big Willie has no problem holding the screen. In fact, trouble enters only when the script overcomplicates things in the end. Until then, especially in a growling dogfight, director Francis Lawrence keeps you squirming.
Even weeks after having seen the film, I can still remember many of the nuances of Smith's performance - in my usual vortex of forgettable film screenings, this is rare indeed.
if not a classic, at least memorable as it aspires, but doesn't quite succeed, in being more than just a horror flick as mindless as the roving mutants it showcases
I Am Legend is a wasted opportunity -- a rickety, weather-beaten framework around an otherwise strong central performance from Smith.
The "Infected" here are no mere vampires or zombies, but outrageously super-powerful albino demons who'd make even the meanest Uruk-hai wet its tunic.
Smith goes deeper here than he ever has on screen to show us the desperation and devastation that are attacking the infratructure of his rational mind like the grass is overtaking the city streets.
It's almost as if the filmmakers wanted to say something about isolation, and loneliness, in the urban environment. Almost.
A scary sci-fi story set in Manhattan in 2012 where a lone surviving scientist struggles to find a cure for the virus that has destroyed most of the human race.
Latest News for I Am Legend
December 08, 2008:
Will Smith Outlines "Fantastic Prequel Idea" for I Am Legend ![]()
Never mind all that stuff about the next "I Am Legend" movie being a sequel -- Will Smith gave the straight scoop to Collider recently, and outlined his ideas for the "Legend"... More...
November 25, 2008:
A Sequel for I Am Legend? ![]()
It's utterly unverified, but AICN has started a rumor that the upcoming "I Am Legend" prequel may not be a prequel at all, but will instead pick up the story of Will Smith's... More...
September 25, 2008:
Will Smith Is Still Legend ![]()
Warner Bros. is moving ahead with its rumored "I Am Legend" prequel, and has hired D.B. Weiss to write a script based on an outline by Will Smith, Francis Lawrence, Akiva... More...
July 28, 2008:
Weekly Ketchup: TRON, I Am Legend, Hercules, Red Sonja, And More
In this special edition Weekly Ketchup, the sequels, prequels and comic book heroes keep coming, as we have the latest from Comic Con. More...
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