I Am Legend Chronicals the Devastating Effects of Genetic Tampering
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I Am Legend is a great "not a zombie" zombie movie that is reminiscent of 28 Days Later, but focuses not on the outbreak itself as much as on one man’s quest for a cure.
Written by The Horror Czar (BHM Editor Don Sumner)
December 16, 2007
Release: December 15, 2007
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Written by: Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman
Starring:
Will Smith as Robert Neville
Alice Braga as Anna
Charlie Tahan as Ethan
Salli Richardson as Zoe
Willow Smith as Marley
Zombies and social/political commentary go together like peas and carrots…even when the zombies are not actually zombies at all. More on that at the end…
I am Legend follows the chronicles of Robert Neville (Will Smith), the lone survivor of a virus-induced holocaust that devastates the planet and spares no human life. Neville, along with his faithful dog, spends his days hunting the streets of New York City for deer and other game, watching countless repeats of Shrek and working tirelessly to find a cure for the deadly virus that has swept across the world.
Through a series of flash-backs the roots of the devastation are revealed. The virus that causes
the Measles was re-engineered to cure cancer with miraculous results. Out of 10,009 human trials
10,009 people were completely free of cancer through the use of a
treatment containing the changed virus strain. Unfortunately the virus also had the capability to
mutate quickly. Soon all of the cured cancer patients started to develop aggressive tendencies and
lose all connection with humanity. Most died, but 10% or so became flesh-eating zombie-like creatures,
their only weakness being an inability to tolerate UV light.
Robert Neville is one of less than 1% of the population immune to the virus and also happens to be the military scientist charged with finding a cure. Now he is the only one left.
I Am Legend is a great “not - a – zombie, zombie movie”. A quick read of the Zombie Movie History by our own Zombie Master Lee Roberts will confirm that for a zombie to actually BE a zombie the body must die first then become reanimated – and the creatures in I Am Legend do not die. They are infected violent creatures that are fast and vicious.
This film is yet another showcase of the talents of Will Smith. Most of the film is just Smith and his dog, alone in an empty city with two purposes: Survival and finding a cure. Smith does an incredible job portraying the isolation, drive, hopelessness and hope necessary to make the film work.
The parallels to 28 Days Later, the film about the Rage Virus created in the U.K., are obvious. The focus of the film, however, is very different. In 28 Days Later the goal is survival as small groups of uninfected work together to make the best of a horrifying situation… in I Am Legend the need to survive exists but the focus is more on a single individual alone who has lost everything, driven by the obsessive need to save a world that is already gone.
Zombie movie fans will notice another strong influence in I Am Legend; George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead. That’s all I will say about that one – go watch this movie and see for yourself – it is definitely worth the seven bucks. Questions or comments about I Am Legend? Contact us!
Note from The Zombie Master Lee Roberts: The book "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson was the inspiration for Mr. George A. Romero's NOTLD. It has also been adapted to film twice before.
"The Last Man on Earth" in 1964 starred Vincent Price. Matheson himself wrote the screenplay but did not like the re-writes so he shows up in the credits under the pseudonym Logan Swanson and "The Omega Man" in 1971 with Charlton Heston. Matheson had no part of this film and it deviates from the story in several places.
I also enjoyed the newest adaptation with Will Smith but it still deviates from the story. I will however continue to wait for a version that is closer to Matheson's classic.
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