I Am Legend (2007)

Well, I am not a great Fan of Movies which has a story line covering Zombies, any way I Am Legend has taken a different approach. This movie is based on novel by Richard Matheson of the same name.

Note : If you don't like to know the plot details of this story then kindly skip the first three paragraphs.

Synopsis : The Movie starts with a flashback where it is revealed that in 2009 a genetically Re-engineered Measles Virus was created to cure Cancer; later on this Virus undergoes mutation & generates a new lethal airborne based disease which spreads worldwide killing ninety percent of those infected, while the remaining few percent who possessed natural immunity to this virus survived rest turned to a aggressive primal beings who were not able to tolerate Sun Light thus forcing them to hide in the dark till dusk. Slowly most of this immune people where hunted by the infected thus making the central character (Will Smith) as the lone survivor of the holocaust.

Will Smith plays as Dr. Robert Neville a US Army Scientist who posses the natural immunity against this airborne disease. He seems to have decided to stay back in Manhattan & try to find a possible cure. His daily day to day routine includes moving across the lonely Manhattan in the day time for hunting & gathering foods while in the night he works in his Lab trying to find a cure. He also waits every day for a response to his continuous recorded radio broadcasts, where he instructs any uninfected survivors to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport. The only sanity in him is seemed to be kept alive by his only companion 'Samantha' a canine.

Very soon his survival becomes difficult, as his once fortified home at Washington Square becomes an imminent attack spot by a group of the Infected. Within the course of time Smith teams up with a woman named Anna & a small boy named Ethan who save him from a night road assault. The movie ultimately winds up with the cure resulting from his blood & Neville's (Smith)sacrifice to protect it.

I think the whole movie pulled up well with the extraordinary performance by Will Smith. The movies first forty minutes has been really a riveting experience, it just gave us a haunting look of the lonely Manhattan.

Though CGI created infected looked a little bit annoying, the overall experience was good. This movie is very much similar to Cast Away where Tom Hanks portrays a person marooned in an island. I Am Legend may have received mixed reviews from across the world; after all it can be justified as portrayal of person's psychology against all odds & his belief. So in one way the movie has been able to deliver what it had to offer in the first place. If you are looking for lots of action then this movie may not be the right choice; if you are looking for drama with a dark theme then this just proves to do so.

If there is no solid ground which rationalizes for watching this film, then Will Smith's performance is ample enough to give this movie a chance. 


My Rating : 7/10