A cure for cancer was found in 2009. After thousands of test cases come back positive the vaccine goes into widespread use, but by 2012 only 1% of the world's population will be left, and most of them will be mindless killing machines. Over a three-year time span the vaccine will go from a blessing to a curse as it mutates and becomes something that no one was prepared for. Scientist Robert Neville is now the lone human left in New York and by day he works on a cure. By night he fights for his very survival. Will Neville be able to save mankind from complete extinction or will he be the last to fall to the disease and become nothing more than a legend in the new world?

In 1964 it was The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price, in 1971 it was The Omega Man with Charleton Heston, now in 2007 it is I Am Legend with Will Smith. But is this the best film version of the book by Richard Matheson? Or is it the worst? Maybe a little of both, if you want to know what I think about it read on.

Going into I Am Legend I had high hopes and in the first few minutes of the film, I thought it was going to do things right. By the midway point I was a little uneasy and by the end I was just flat out bored. If I was to give you the bare bones of this flick it would go like this: Take the infected from 28 Days Later, infect them with the radioactive spider bites from Spiderman, add a couple of the Dobermans from Resident Evil, throw in a few gunshots and explosions, mix in a kick ass german shepard and top it off with a good performance by Will Smith, you think that would be a great recipe for a fairly entertaining monster flick, but nope, it just doesn't happen.

First off if you have read the book, you will hate this movie. Once again some of the major parts and general themes of the book are completely ignored, mainly the things that made the relationship between Neville and the infected so personal, and you can feel that everything has just been "amped up" for the big Hollywood show. There are also some really big WTF? moments that stem from the plot changes, that really make you roll your eyes from time to time.

The biggest example of this is how in one scene Neville states how the infected have lost the last remnants of social behavior and thought, yet in the next couple of scenes they are able to set traps and somehow organize a massive unified strike, how is that able to happen, Dr. Neville? That may sound kind of whiney, but if you have read the book, you will know that the infected were much more than crazy ass blood drinkers.

Now there is some good like: The atmosphere, it's creepy, the isolation factor is outstanding and whenever darkness falls you know you had better have your ass inside. Another positive aspect is Will Smith, I think he did a great job. His performance shows great duality in the fact that he is not only a strong survivalist, but he also emotionally ripped to pieces from his personal loss, which makes for a good character and a good performance. And finally there is Sam the German Shepard... I can't really say to much more about the relationship between Neville and Sam, except the fact that it is amazing and the subplot that involves the brave pooch is truly an emotional roller coaster. It has been altered from the one in the book, quite a lot, but it is still very, very powerful.

By the time the ending of I Am Legend finally roles around, you know where it is headed, which is completely away from the original story, which is really a shame since the book is easy to follow. I still don't consider the book to be spectacular, but it should translate very well onto film and so far I think The Omega Man has done it the best so far. In the end though I was just kind of "Ho-Hummed" by this version, it had some good new twists, but most of them twisted the original story to far for me so by the end I Am Legend had become I Am Average.

6 of 10 for Smith's performance and his relationship with Sam.

I went into this movie with expectations from the book. I haven't read it, yet, but my friend is a big fan, and has told me all about it. I was interested in seeing that play out on film. Unfortunately, it doesn't. The monsters go from mostly-human to mindless beasts, killing off one of the more prominent themes. It definately loses a bit in translation.

Will Smith's performance was excellent. I really enjoyed it, and the relationship he had with the dog, Sam, was greatly done. Indeed, it was an emotional roller coaster.

Finally, I agree that the movie felt as though it was intensified to sate the average movie-goer's desire to see massive explosions, something me and my friend agreed on. But the atmosphere and set was great. They really made NY look completely deserted and forgotten.

Overall, I'd give it an 8 out of 10 wandering mannequins.

Pros:
Will Smith turned in a very solid performance as Robert Neville. He was totally believable as he suffered through his solitary existance, while at the same time maintaining an underlying optimism that kept him human. The relationship between Neville and his dog was a real highlight, as was Neville's attempts at "normalcy" in his everyday life.
New York looked realistically void of human life. The atmosphere was effectively set as both despairingly lonely, and the ultimate in personal freedom. A sense of paranoia was well conveyed by the night sounds and the need for ultra-vigilence.

Cons:
In a word (or acronym), CGI. After witnessing the success of movies like The Descent to portray mutated humans realistically without computer animation, it was disappointing to watch these video game escapees. This movie deserved better.

Also, there were a few moments that asked for more than the usual suspension of disbelief. I'll not get specific here so that plot points are not given away, but anytime you go WTF? while viewing the movie instead of after when you've had time to digest it, you know liberties with our intelligence have been taken.

On the whole, I found I Am Legend to be a thoroughly entertaining film. Will Smith's performance, the well established atmosphere, and the modern plot changes all were strengths. Except for the sub-standard CGI and a couple of WTFs, the movie was very solid.

Analysis:
10
-2 for poor CGI
-1 for WTF moments
+1 for Smith's particularly strong peformance
= 7 out of 10.

I really wanted to see this movie after having seen the trailer I knew it had to be based on one of my favorite movies: Omega Man.

First let me say I think this is one of the best movies I have seen in a while. I can't usually be bothered to take the time to write my opion about anything but I felt compelled to write about this film because it brought out so many different emotions in me that I had to share my thoughts.

How often do you experience despair, fear, anxiety, humor and hope in one movie? That being said I will tell you what I liked about this movie.

Will Smith's performance was incredible. Never was a huge Will Smith fan but his performance was exceptional. He probably won't get any nods from the Hollywood crowd, acting in this type of movie never does.I really like the story line, I think it is very thought provoking. What would it be like to live in that world? I found it very disturbing to put my self in his position familiar surroundings but no one to share it with, no one to talk to.

Throw in some scary, aggressive, crazed killer ex-humans t hat is enough to make anyone freak out. Would you want to continue living or just give up?

Smith honestly made you care about the character. I'm sure his dog Sam had something to do with this too,being a sucker for animals. I basically knew how the movie was going to turn out from having seen Omega Man but I was still hoping for a different outcome.

See this movie it will definitely entertain you, something that unfortunatelly doesn't happen for me with any of the recent movies I've seen. By the way I haven't read the book, I probably should. I would also recomment wathing Omega Man. Same premise just a little different twist in the story.

This movie really creeped me out, the first one to do so in a long time. It was really well done and all, and I liked it overall, but the first time you see the Darkseekers in that room gave me the heebie-jeebies. Seriously.

The relationship Will Smith had with Sam was really good. I almost cried in the theater for her.

Will Smith did a really good job with this movie, but I really did not like what happened to Sam, and the ending wasn't that great either.
8/10 surprise attacks