|
I finally saw I am Legend I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. I actually read the novel before the film came out with the expectation of seeing the movie, but I missed opening night and the people I knew who did see it weren't very enthusiastic. Now I know why. I'm usually not one to compare movies to books. They are two different genres and movies have always been on the more sensational, eye-candy side of the equation. That's fine as far as it goes, but it truly mystifies me as to why movie makers would go to the time and trouble to create what they have to know is a terrible, uninspired, film. I'm going to give some spoilers for the novel below. They aren't really spoilers for the movie though because, instead of adopting the more original plot points of the novel, the film decided to shed them for a hackneyed zombie movie plot. In the novel, the protagonist Robert Neville is a blue collar worker who finds himself a lone survivor of a pandemic that has turned the world's denizens into vampires. Much of the novel is focused on the severe loneliness of Neville, his quest to investigate and cure the disease, and to cure vampires whenever possible. One aspect of the novel I liked was that Neville, with no formal training, learns the scientific method from scratch. Even though the science, especially related to the vampires, is more than a bit hoaky the sentiment is a strong one. Alternatively, in the film, Robert Neville is a Lieutenant Colonel who works as a virologist for the U.S. Army. In other words, the last survivor of new york city coincidentally had the precise training necessary to combat vampires and research the disease that caused the condition. nice. In the novel Neville eventually meets a woman. Neville eventually learns that this woman had been a vampire but that some of the vampires have discovered medicine which counteracts some aspects of the disease. These partially cured vampires have formed the rudiments of a civilization in which Neville is feared in much the same way as vampires are in our culture. He's a monster who stalks their territory when they all sleep (in the day) and slaughters them mercilessly. Great twist. In the film, Neville meets a woman as well. But she's human and she has a small child with her. They are both completely human. She's never heard Bob Marley so he gives her his greatest hits CD, which, not coincidentally, is called Legend. He then explains that Marley was a hero for peace. At the end of the film Neville sacrifices himself to get a cure for the disease to Anna who escapes new york and then finds a survivor settlement. She says that this act makes Neville a Legend. It really doesn't have the same punch, does it. So yeah, I dig Will Smith. I like vampire movies and I liked the book. But if you're one of the eight people who haven't seen it yet, you can skip the film. |
