![]() ![]() Regardless of the opportunities currently available to filmmakers in terms of creating humanlike creatures, why didn't the filmmakers just get real people to play the Dark Seekers, even for just a few of the key characters? Was it really impossible to find an actress who could suitably pant like a dog on an operating table, or an actor who could stare malevolently at Smith? The fact that the rules are never defined for the creatures - such as their strength, speed, or most importantly, their hunger for what, blood? Human flesh? - further undermines the credibility of their existence, and makes them devices for a series of fake scares rather than convincing adversaries for Neville. There are really two major problems with I Am Legend - lackluster special effects and Lawrence's direction. As the Dark Seekers close in on him, Robert races to find a cure while trying to regain the humanity he ironically lost in the lonely process of trying to save humankind. But after he apprehends one of the Dark Seekers, he discovers that he has become part of a dangerous cat and mouse game with the monsters' alpha male (Dash Mihok). Spending his days searching for a cure and hunting in the abandoned streets of New York City, Robert is slowly becoming consumed by his isolation. As we learn in a prologue, humans have discovered a cure for cancer but flash forward several years and it turns out that the supposed "cure" has either killed those to whom it was administered or turned them into light-fearing, superhuman monsters called Dark Seekers. Smith plays Robert Neville, a scientist who is evidently the last human on Earth. But that is also why even as counterprogramming to more serious, meditative fare, I Am Legend is neither refreshing nor rewarding, leading one less to some catharsis or epiphany about our possible future (not to mention our current cinematic options) than the revelation that the third time is decidedly not the charm in adapting author Richard Matheson's iconic story. ![]() To be fair, director Francis Lawrence is the perfect director for this type of movie because his visual style telegraphs every scare or emotional punchline and ensures that each viewer receives exactly what he or she wants or expects from every moment. ![]()
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