A fairly decent movie

I went to see "I Am Legend" Friday night (by myself, but that's another story). To offer full disclosure (and sure ridicule from some), I'm a big Will Smith fan, going way back to the days of "Parents Just Don't Understand" (which, if I remember correctly, was the second rap album I bought...Digital Underground being the first). I'm digressing...

I'm intrigued by the idea of the whole 'last man on earth' storyline. One guy, wondering about with no one else to communicate with or interact with. It's an apt metaphor for socially inept people in junior high and high school. But, even though it's almost a standard science fiction cliche, for some reason that plot calls to me.
Anyhoo, I went to see this movie. Good seats, popcorn and coke in hand. Surprisingly low attendance, even given the weather conditions. The previews, which I insist on watching, were so so (something is coming out in '08). Finally the screen darkens to begin the enjoyment.

Okay, so the plot. A cure for cancer has been found in the year 2009. 100% success rate. The only downside? You turn into a hairless, daylight phobic, extremely athletic zombie type thing. Smith, as Robert Neville, is a military scientist tasked with finding a cure.
Problem number one: Infections are both blood born and air born.
Problem number two: Infection and death rates are near 90%, meaning that 5.4 billion people on the planet are goners. 9% of the population becomes the aforementioned zombie type things. The other 1%? Natural immunity.

The infection starts in Manhattan and the government quarantines the entire island to prevent the spread of infection (unfortunately, it doesn't). So, after three years, Manhattan is a ghost town, at least during daylight hours (do they still observe daylight savings time in this future?) save for Neville and his dog. And apparently the rest of the world too, as Neville spends the better part of his day broadcasting on the AM frequencies looking for other humans. Oh, and Neville has that convenient immunity to the virus that prevents him from turning into a zombie.

So, what's the review? Smith carries the part well, especially considering it's pretty much him and a dog for the first 45 minutes of the movie. The macho shtick is kept to a minimum, except for a brief scene that was evidently inserted to show off his muscles. Rather than take the tough guy approach, Smith uses some range to convey, with very good success, exactly what it means to be alone. And rather than exude emotion until it runs out of his ears, a la Tom Hanks in "Castaway", Smith goes with the more subtle route. One scene in particular is when Smith takes his daily trip to the local video store. We are given no back story to what he's doing or why he's doing it but instead allowed to absorb the scene and it's ramifications as it unfolds. Mannequins are placed throughout the store, dressed in various clothes. As he walks through the store, Smith interacts with each of them in various different ways, greeting all of them as old friends. It becomes obvious that Smith placed these mannequins in the store at some point in the past to maintain a sense of realism to his world. He even carries on a conversation with his dog about hitting on a nearby female mannequin. At first blush, this scene was written for humorous effect. But subtly, you are given a glimpse into the slow madness that he is slipping into by being alone and the lengths to which he will go to forestall that madness. And later, we return to this video store after Smith loses his only friend in the world, his dog, to see just how far into that madness he as gone.
Solid build up, solid acting, solid scripting for the first 3/4ths of the movie. And then it turns into Resident Evil. Rather than let the movie play out on it's own strengths, the writers felt that more special effects were called for. So enter the massive hordes of CGI monsters to threaten our hero and his new found companions (Don't ask because I was about to walk out when Smith is rescued by a duex ex machina in the form of two OTHER immune humans...yeah, I know). Even with this colossal let down in plotting, I was still engrossed enough to sit through the last 15 minutes to find out what happens. I won't give away the ending here, but the ending redeemed a little bit of the previous ten minutes of CGI madness.

So, should you see this movie? Well, that depends. If you love CGI in all it's myriad forms, then yes, by all means. If you are more of a plot and acting person, then you should go. But do so with lowered expectations. It's still a good movie, but it misses the boat to greatness by about ten minutes.