I Am Legend Chronicals
the Devastating Effects of Genetic Tampering
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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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. 
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