"Fake Looking CGI Ruins The Scary portion But Will Smith's performance Makes You Feel What He Feels"
From the director of the semi-entertaining film Constantine comes the latest adaptation of the classic book I Am Legend. While there is some confusion it is indeed a remake of the 1950's classic The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston, and fortunatly it is a better movie. I Am Legend plays a lot like 28 Days Later focusing on the themes of loneliness, loss, and the need for human interaction. Also much like 28 Days Later the first half of the film is the protagonist exploring the ruins of his former world while cautiously watching his back and trying to pick up where his life left off except this time there is only one man alive...or is there?
Will Smith's performance is dynamite he is believable, likable, and relatable, but best of all not a stupid victim. He is smart enough not to investigate the strage noises, he brings weapons with him wherever he goes, and has a great sense of security i.e his house. The movie is surprisingly depressing and sad and definatly tweaks your sympathy bone with heartbreaking scenes of loss, anger, and hysterics. Seeing as the only actor with enough screen time to give a judge worthy performance is Will Smith the acting is absolutley fantastic.
The biggest flaw is definatly the unessecary use of CGI in the movie. I Am Legend needs no CGI but for some reason heavily relies on it throughout the film and none of it looks convincing from the lions, to the deer, to the terribly fake, video game quality vampires..or zombies, or whatever they are supposed to be, i guess the non offensive term would be post apocalyptically challenged human??? The sad part is that I Am Legend knows true horror is uses atmosphere and suspense for 90% of a successful scare and while the build up teams with the set design and music to create a great scary setup the unconvincing CGI blows it all to hell and ruins what could've been a scary scene.
It's hardly action packed bntu a more a look into the psyciatric states of us as human beings and while I Am Legend is able to convey a character driven, heartfelt story with characters you end up caring about , the overreliance on horrible fake looking CGI kills the mood and while it is ignorable to a certain degree takes a lot of getting used to and a lot of patience. In the end I Am Legend sets itself up to be scary, captivating, fun, entertaining, and heartfelt but only ends up becomming half of what it was meant to be. Overall if you can look past the irritating CGI you'll be able to appreciate the character driven drama I Am Legend offers.
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