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Richard Matheson´s 1954 novel has garnered plenty of attention from Hollywood. Legendary horror actor Vincent Price starred in the first big-screen adaptation in 1964´s "The Last Man on Earth." The rugged and charismatic Charlton Heston took his turn as Robert Neville in the 1971 version titled "The Omega Man." After years of Arnold Schwarzenegger failing to create his own adaptation of the short novel, Warner Bros. moved the action from Los Angeles to New York City and signed the talented and well-loved Will Smith to star in the third major version of "I Am Legend" and for the first time, the novel´s title was retained.
When it was announced that Will Smith was going to star in a new version of "I Am Legend," my only major concern was "How can you kill Will Smith?" If you have read the novel or sat down and enjoyed Heston in "The Omega Man," you should be familiar with the notion that the title refers to Neville´s legacy after his death. Neville always dies. Price died. Heston died. Will the filmmakers of "I Am Legend" allow Will smith to die? Smith is such an affable and charismatic actor, that I was generally concerned that the film would not work. In order to remain at least somewhat true to the story, the main character must perish and leave a legacy. He must become a legend. I wasn´t sure of whether or not the filmmakers would remain true to the story and allow the main character to die.
Another concern was the nature of Neville´s legacy and the original sense of Neville being a genocidal villain who was a legend because he hunted down and killed countless infected who lived in fear of Neville and regarded him as a monster. Neville lived under the impression that he was researching a way to understand what he regarded as monsters. He viewed himself as the last remaining member of society, but those he hunted and murdered were members of a new society that learned to function in a life with the plague that had stricken them. The novel ends with Neville being the villain and not those that the reader perceived to be evil.
Warner Bros. and screenwriter Akiva Goldsmith wisely reinvented the story to capitalize on having Will Smith star in the new adaptation of "I Am Legend" and to bring an updated sense of adventure and terror, while retaining many of the elements that have made the novel such an attractive property to base films upon. Neville is portrayed as a man who desperately researches a cure to the vampiric disease that was spawned from a potential cure for cancer. He captures and kills the infected during scientific experiments and only when his last resort for protection is to fire upon them. Neville fears those that are infected and doesn´t actively hunt them for anything more than scientific reasons.
The new adaptation takes a radically different approach to portraying the new society of humans. Whereas they were previously shown to be literate and intelligent, the new breed of monsters is shown initially to be overly rabid madmen who have superhuman speed and strength because of their mutations created by the virus. They are shown as organisms that have shed any semblance of humanity and this is the belief held by Neville during the film. However, a clever twist during the film introduces a ´leader´ to the vampires and they are shown to have an ability to organize and the leader goes as far as setting a complicated trap for Neville that mimics his means of capturing specimens. This new society, as shown in "I Am Legend," has an underlying desire to survive as a society, but they possess terrifying qualities that separate the ´monsters´ of this new movie from previous tellings of the novels antagonists.
A female character is again introduced in this version of "I Am Legend." Previous incarnations of the female lead have engaged in lustful or romantic feelings with Neville. Instead, Anna (Alice Braga) is a survivor who has heard Neville´s communication that he is a survivor and she has come to collect him on her way to what she believes is a sanctuary of survivors in New England. She travels with a young boy and assists in providing the Will Smith version of Robert Neville become a legend in a light that is fair to Will Smith. Unlike previous versions of the story, where the female lead (usually named Ruth) is a spy for the vampires, Anna is wholly innocent and truly wants to help Neville. This is one of the film´s most radical departures from the source story, but it works well considering a actor considered to be the ultimate nice guy is starring as Neville. How could anybody betray Will Smith?
The film does take its liberties with the original Matheson novel. While I typically prefer for films to retain faithful to the novels and stories they are based upon, I found this new version of "I Am Legend" to work well. Much of my acceptance of the changes to the story and spirit of Matheson´s work are due entirely to the decision to cast Will Smith as Robert Neville. Smith is such a charismatic and likable person that it is hard to imagine his casting working in a film where he is ultimately the villain and betrayed by a potential love interest. The film is the first to retain the novels name and in some ways, it is the most unfaithful adaptation. However, I feel this is the most entertaining and best told variant of "I Am Legend" out of the three films.
There is a lot of action and a lot of adventure with "I Am Legend." The filmmakers wisely decided to change the location of the story and bring the apocalypse to the Big Apple. New York is a city with far more character than Los Angeles and its numerous locations and sights are far more familiar than pretty much anything in the enormous California city. Part of the fun of "I Am Legend" is the incredibly well done CGI that makes New York City look as if it has been empty and poorly maintained for a number of years. The apocalyptic visuals of "I Am Legend" are easily some of the most impressive to yet appear in any major Hollywood production. Unlike "The Omega Man," which had cars and homeless people hiding in the shadows and distance, "I Am Legend" creates a wholly believable world that feels frighteningly empty.
Will Smith is the sole actor to appear on-screen for a majority of the film. His only co-star for much of the film was Sam (Kona) the German Shepard. The dog held her own nicely against one of the more recognizable and talented actors working today. However, "I Am Legend" largely succeeds because of Smith. He brings emotion, confidence and fear to his character. Flashbacks are provided to show the pain he suffered in losing his family during the plague and you easily get a solid sense that Neville is an emotionally fragile survivor that hangs on by a thread. He interacts with mannequins as if they are his friends and shows the emotionally fragile side of his character. When the action hero needs to flex his muscles and fight to survive, the "Bad Boy" star shows his ability to handle the action as well. Will Smith is one of the only actors working today who can command the screen when he is the only actor in the frame for over half of a film.
In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this new adaptation of "I Am Legend." The film combined some very tense moments that allowed the film to have a genuine survivor-horror feel to it. The vampiric creations of "I Am Legend" easily trump previous incarnations of the plague-ridden beings created by Richard Matheson. The so-called monsters of "I Am Legend" felt like "28 Days Later" rage-infected zombies on crack. They were fun and exciting and worked perfectly in this film. Will Smith is an amazing talent and he has a commanding presence through the film and only an actor of his caliber can pull off something like "I Am Legend." Following Vincent Price and Charlton Heston is no easy task, but Smith shows them who the master is. The effects, visuals and story of this adaptation of "I Am Legend" work brilliantly and considering director Francis Lawrence had previously directed only the Keanu Reeves film "Constantine," he has helmed a well built film. "I Am Legend" is engaging and exciting.
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