"I am Legend" review

[jedi master sal]

Just saw it and LOVED it. made me jump in my seat a couple of times. Will Smith is awesome as usual.

No not everything is explained but it doesn't need to be. There's plenty of inference as to what happened/happens.

Effects are great. New York looks like a wasteland. Only point of contention is the creatures jaw. When they scream the jaw opens WAY to wide.

The story is good, flashbacks give insight into what happened.

I don't really want to give away to much.

I give this HIGH marks. 8.5 out of 10. I expected more action early on. But the movie finishes in a flurry. Again I won't give it away.

Go see it for yourself. I know I plan on owning this when it comes out on DVD.

-Sal

[plasticfetish]

Awww... very cool. Thanks for the review! The wife just emailed me from work asking when we were going to see this. Maybe tonight then.

Hey! They played the trailer for the new Batman movie didn't they?

[BountyHunterScum]

So they are Blade II reaper ripoffs.

[General_Grievous]

Spoilers ahead

I saw this in IMAX this afternoon. The main highlight for me was the 6 minute "Dark Knight" clip (but that's for another thread). The movie was still pretty good, anyway. I wouldn't put it on my top ten for the year, but it was better than I expected. However, I did think the first half of the movie was much better than the second half. After the dog died, I thought the movie started to slip. The main complaint I can think of is that the "zombies" looked fake and not very creepy at all. However, what was creepy was the prospect of $6.50 for a gallon of gas when Neville was at the gas station. But as far as dystopian future movies go, I thought this one was pretty good. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

BTW, did anyone else catch that "Batman vs. Superman" easter egg poster in Times Square at the beginning of the movie?

[scruffziller]

This was the best movie of its kind. Better than 28 days later and ones of the like.

[Jedi_Master_Guyute]

saw it tonight and thought it was pure crap. The best scenes were definately in the first portion of the film with neville and Sam (including the obvious sad scene), but there were too many plot holes and things that were contrived and silly. Main arguments:

- The CGI was really bad. The infected looked really goofy.
- and speaking of which, we got literally NO info on what sort of creatures they were. So they don't like light? And, what else exactly? Oh, their mouths are ginormous. Why?
- I did like the reference to "Darkseekers" that was brought up and never spoken of again.
- Also, not a lot of action or jumpy parts. I counted one jumpy part early one, in the flashback of all things. That was it.
- Flashbacks were really pointless. It was revealed in the trailer/many write ups/reviews that his family is killed during the evacuation. Why spend the entire film showing flashbacks to a dramatic revelation that has already been shown/obvious to the public? Give me something new.
- the eye scanning scene with his wife was really pointless. She's infected; no, wait, she's not! So, if the scanner was wrong, how about the probably, um, thousands of others that it scanned a positive for? This was just poor writing and done for drama, which felt contrived.
- The whole scene to trigger the finale: So, Neville is shooting at a dummy, being crazy, and gets snagged in a trap? Is that REALLY the best they could do?
- Also felt the woman and her son were not done right. There is little sense that they could survive on their own, but they are able to not only get from South America to New York, but also from NY to Vermont without problems? Lame.
- And so they deliver the "cure" all is well? Are the infected going to line up, holding hands, asking for it? I read that the ending was reshot and it was definately poor.

Save your $$ folks.

[BountyHunterScum]

I knew this was garbage withtout having to see it, I read a detailed synopsis of the movie online and this movie is a blatant ripoff of past end of the world movies.

[Jedi_Master_Guyute]

I knew this was garbage withtout having to see it, I read a detailed synopsis of the movie online and this movie is a blatant ripoff of past end of the world movies.

well, which ones are you referring to, cap'n? Cos if you're referring to "The Omega Man" or "the last man on earth" (i believe is the title?) that's because they're all based off the same novel from Richard Matheson; all three are adaptations.

[stillakid]

I knew this was garbage withtout having to see it, I read a detailed synopsis of the movie online and this movie is a blatant ripoff of past end of the world movies.

That's a silly reason to damn a movie. I mean, if the decision is made to make an "end of the world" story, there aren't too many ways to do it.

The first is to have an external force (aliens, asteroids, etc) threaten Earth and humans prove just how resourceful we really can be under duress and find a way to overcome the odds and survive.

The second is to have us fight ourselves, via warfare of human vs humans wherein humans prove just how resourceful we really can be under duress and find a way to overcome the odds and survive.

The third is for us to fight something else on Earth, which we usually instigate or cause in some way (Dinosaurs, zombies, etc) and humans prove just how resourceful we really can be under duress and find a way to overcome the odds and survive.

Beyond that, it's just details. So to preordain that any movie is garbage just because it seems reminiscent of something already done isn't a worthy critique. If the details of said story fail for whatever reason, then there is something to talk about, but ultimately, most movies are derivative of something that came before.

[preacher]

As a fan of 28 days later and 28 weeks, and dawn of the dead and other zombie flicks (resident evil sucked), it seems very daring to say this movie was better than 28 days later. If it really is, then I am Legend's trailer didn't do it justice. What makes this better than any of those?

You want a great end-of-days flick? Go see Mist. The show was excellent albeit very hopeless - kind of like Leaving Las Vegas. Not one that I will probably ever see again, but I'm glad I did see it once.