CLAIRE & ROBS OPINION OF THE FILM... - Page 3

Claireofthemoon · 03-28-2008

Spoilers for I Am Legend

Some actors get better with time and Will Smith is one of them. In I Am Legend, he is mesmerizing as Dr. Robert Neville, the military physician who refuses to give up trying to find a cure for the virus that wiped out mankind.

Unless you’ve been completely media starved for the past six months or more, you know the basic plot of Legend. The lone survivor with his german shepherd roaming the streets of New York City. He encounters people infected with the killer virus who behave surprisingly like zombies. His only friend is attacked by one of them and has to be killed. When poor Sam dies, the movie went slightly downhill. I felt like he should have stayed alive longer.

But, in general I really liked I Am Legend and give it an A-.

Ford · 03-28-2008

Did you see the alternate ending? If so, what did you think of that.

And yes, the best scenes in the movie where the ones with Sam in them.

Since the alternate ending fixed most of my gripes, the only one I had left with the movie was the look of the dark seekers. I think it would have been a lot scarier if they had actual actors in make up instead of the obviously cgi mutants. For an example, just look at the Reapers in "Blade 2". They were only cgi when they were doing something not humanly possible, which is the perfect way to use it.

TONGO · 03-28-2008

BIG TIME SPOILER!!!! IF YOU HAVENT SEEN THE MOVIE I AM LEGEND SKIP THIS POST!!!

When he's choking out the dog when it turned - Smith never had his eyes on the dog. His character couldnt watch himself kill it, and it was scenes like that one is why I felt he deserved a Best Actor nom. Not since Tom Hanks in Castaway was there such an overriding performance necessary. Smith delivered, and completely. His faraway stare in the beginning of the film when washing the dog. Almost symbolizing he hadnt fully come to grips with the world as it was, and he falls into a trancelike shock for a time. Did he truly forget then was made aware by his watch alarm!?! Smith is here to stay because he has respect for his craft, deep talent, and a tremendous work ethic.

What sealed the deal was the true chilling adrenaline laced suspense that few movies can capture. The film screams of urgency from the get-go. When Smith is snared, and that watch alarm wakes him up......I truly cant remember the last time Ive been so scared for a character, AND HIS DOG! Sam shouldve gotten a best supporting actor nom, and if she knew any better wouldve bit Leonard Maltin simply on general principle.

The movie is a solid A. Alternate ending?! Too pretty for such a harrowing fare this movie displayed. The original ending though a downer was true, and not "Hollywooded-out" like so many stories that shouldnt end happily yet do.

Ford · 03-28-2008

But without that ending, Neville is just totally oblivious to the fact that the dark seekers had intelligence and felt emotions. He never saw them as their own species or felt any remorse for what he did to them. We never saw them attack a human. They only responded to him invading their homes as any human would. He was the predator, not them.

TONGO · 03-29-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford

But without that ending, Neville is just totally oblivious to the fact that the dark seekers had intelligence and felt emotions. He never saw them as their own species or felt any remorse for what he did to them. We never saw them attack a human. They only responded to him invading their homes as any human would. He was the predator, not them.

No offense Ford, but that's some babblin assed bs! Those creatures werent human, and ate people! Feel emotion?! Well good for Mr Headbanger zombie having a heart, but Im not going to equate that things yearnings to Nevilles families death or to the woman and child he was protecting.
Neville saved their lives, and by your logic it was an unecessary tragedy - BULLSHIT! He had to take out that lot of monsters, make sure the formula was saved THE END. Now I liked the butterfly thingie, and if they went with happy ending Id still love the film, but I wouldve felt theyd sold-out also.

TONGO · 03-29-2008

That might come off high handed and it really isnt meant to. I just strongly disagree with the "zombies being the oppresed" concept.

Claireofthemoon · 03-29-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob34207

That might come off high handed and it really isnt meant to. I just strongly disagree with the "zombies being the oppresed" concept.

I agree with you Rob. His character killed the infected people only in self defense and in his experiments to try to cure them. I didn't watch the movie and think "Oh, poor zombie."

Ford · 03-29-2008

Well it was people like Neville that killed humanity anyway, even if it was in trying to cure cancer. Neville did lose his mind because he still thought that he could fix it. That's impossible. For his "cure" to work, every mutant would have to be injected, and then cooled down. There just was not enough humans in the world to handle that, not to mention the fact that if they couldn't communicate with him in New York City, that there was no chance at all in getting the rest of the world in on his cure. They said something about Vermont being a safe haven because the mutants couldn't survive the cold. If that was the case, all the mutants in New York would have died too because it gets just as cold there as it does in Vermont. Nevilles wife and daughter were killed by humans, not mutants.

That's the reason they call the alternate ending "controversial". It shows the mutants as being their own species and evolving as such. If nothing else it makes you look at the mutants as victim a little more, it's not like they wanted to be that way. Neville was just too wrapped up in his routine to see them as anything else. I almost wish they would have shown someone that Neville actually knew, as a mutant.

When I saw the movie for the first time in theaters, I was disappointed. I thought the new cut was much better. I didn't really care if he lived or died at the end, just that he finally opened his eyes realized why they were coming after him.

TONGO · 03-30-2008

Well just because those creatures were dimly capable of love doesnt mean we should be rooting for the blood-drinking vampiric zombies. I just didnt get that victim vibe looking at them. Ford youre just a softy! LOL!

Ford · 03-30-2008

I guess I'm just trying to say that it was annoying that Neville didn't see their intelligence, seeing as how he'd spent the past 3 years with them. He made his note that one of them exposed himself to sunlight, and just chalked it up to it being really stupid, instead of realizing that it just wanted it's woman back. I would have actually preferred to see him die at the end if he'd just gotten that fact into his head.

Also, here's a synopsis of the ending of the book, that I read elsewhere:
He is executed at the end, due to the fact not all the vampires are bloodthirsty. Some just have a negative reaction to sunlight, so they sleep during the day. Neville does not know this and is killing them all when he finds groups of them. So the more normal ones hang him for murder at the end. So the alternate ending sort of fits more with that.