I am Legend the movie
December 28th, 2007
When I said a couple of weeks ago to go out and read the novel I am Legend it was before I saw the new movie. Now I beg you to watch the movie (if you like movies, that is) and read the book afterwards. The novel in no way will be ruined by watching the movie but vice versa is a different matter.
Now before we get into this I’m not entering a “the book is better than the movie” debate. There is no debate. The book is a brilliant piece of literature that they should make children read in school. The movie on the other hand is a brilliant apocalyptic drama, performed impeccably by Will Smith, which looks awesome and is inspired by the novel.
The movie is inspired by the novel it is not a direct interpretation of it. Which is why, if you go into this film hoping to see the book on screen you’ll be disappointed and will probably cheat yourself of a great movie experience.
The first thing that is great about I am Legend is the visuals, I mean really great. We’ve all wondered what it would be like if humanity was removed from the planet and the cities were slowly reclaimed by nature. I think that I am Legend manages to show this without going over the top with vines hanging off the tallest skyscrapers that is often the hallmark of a deserted city. There is a couple of tongue in cheek references to films on the posters in the abandoned Times Square, most notably the Batman/Superman poster.
Will Smith is possibly the only actor in the world that I could see in this role which is a credit to him and the casting director. Smith is playing the last man on Earth which pretty much means the whole film is carried by him.
One thing that did strike me in the production was the use of the media, something like seven billion people have died but there are still movie posters on the walls which would have been so important to so many people had they not been dying or being killed. Material objects no longer matter despite the importance placed upon them by society before the end.
There is a bad side to the film though that I have to address, bloody CGI. I read somewhere that they originally wanted to use just actors as the zombie/vampires that humanity had become but realised that they needed a CGI edge to them.
They were wrong.
The creatures look wrong.
They look as though they’ve been taken from Smith’s earlier film I Robot in the crowd scenes. What is it with vampire zombie mouths having to open wider than normal anyhow? Who decided that was good idea? It just detracts from the characters and removes believability. Fortunately this does not ruin the film, well for me anyway.
Watch it, then go out and read the book.
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Categories: Movies | Tags: I am Legend, Movies, Review, Will Smith
I used to be a massive fan of post apocalyptic movies and fiction, but since having kids - not so much.
I might give this a go though as it looks great, but I’ll probably catch it on the small screen as opposed to the big.
Dan’s last blog post..I shouldn’t have
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I can definitely see where you get that and this one is a particularly effective apocalyptic film so I would probably not recommend it to you - only you! Actually you may want to avoid the book more than the movie because it does deal with the issues you are concerned with specifically.
Hope you guys all had a wonderful xmas though despite War of the Worlds - was it the Tom Cruise version because that’s depressing enough on its own.
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good thing I haven’t picked up the book yet
I will though!
But first I will have to read ‘The children of Hurin’ (a Tolkien book).
I did however see some trailer of a very old movie that looked like it was the first movie for I am legend (but than a 50s setting…and filming).
Arjan’s last blog post..Merry christmas & a happy new year!!!
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I was concerned that you might have started it after I put you on to the book Arjan. I’ve never been a huge fan of Tolkien’s writing - really loved the movies though but just don’t like the way he wrote.
I am Legend has been made into a film a couple of times now with the black and white version you may have seen the trailer for being the first and some argue the best. Otherwise you may have seen the Omega Man which is another version.
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it was omega man.
Arjan’s last blog post..Merry christmas & a happy new year!!!
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Oh cool - it’s been years since I’ve seen that - fans of the book don’t tend to talk too kindly about that one but I think I’m going to check it out again some time.
Oh i meant to tell you too - check out Bubba Ho Tep and the soundtrack which I think is awesome.
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i’m off to see the film next week…it was highly recommended by a few people…looking forward it…
i wandered in from the aussie bloggers forum…nice place….i’ll be back if that’s ok? i’m clean and tidy and promise to rinse my coffee mug before i go…
anonymum’s last blog post..I hate that!
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Anonymum you are certainly welcome any time, of course someone who also cleans up after themselves is doubly welcome!!!
You will have to let us know what you think, I feel it’s the closest a zombie movie will ever come to the academy awards lol.
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