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August 19, 2008

I am Legend (2007)

Should I see it?
Yes.

Short Review: It has zombies, how bad can it be?

***Spoiler Warning***

This could have been a brilliant film. As it stands, its still a darn good one. Don't fool yourself, this is big, sloppy, McMovie and the is plenty that doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. So, if you're someone who notices things like that if the zombies are capable of setting traps they would have been doing so already to catch food and wouldn't have cannibalized their fellow man out of starvation, then you should be just fine.

Will Smith is precisely the right guy to lead this film. He's a solid lead actor and is capable of managing most of the film on his own. He engenders interest and sympathy as Robert Neville, a military scientist who is apparently the last man on earth after a cure for cancer goes sour and either kills the population or turns them into raging zombies. Smith's charisma carries the first half of the film where he is alone in the world with his dog. As the story picks up and the zombies are introduced his natural talent handling scenes where he is in peril is displayed. The other actors in the film are passable and fail to compete with Smith's performance. This isn't to imply Smith created a memorable piece of acting, the other roles are simply underwritten and were designed to make them into talking props. Even when the film is populated with multiple human characters it is still all about Neville.

Director Francis Lawrence (the man responsible for the unwatchable Constantine), manages the first half of the film well and sets up the destruction of mankind in effective flashbacks. Once the other characters, a woman and a small boy, are introduced the film stumbles a little. Their time together is so brief and lacking of any depth that the relationships never emerge. The woman and kid show up and that night the zombies attack. Its over before it begins. Also missing is the sense that Neville has been utterly alone for years. His first interactions with other humans is oddly handled. He throws a fit, which is an interesting reaction, but it isn't played as an ironic reaction, it comes off more as bad writing. This mixed with the brief respite before the zombies attack saps the film of some potentially vibrant character development.

The other downside of the film is the zombies themselves. They're infected humans who have been turned into growling, frantic rage-machines. In the original book by Richard Matheson, the infected speak to him from the darkness, he actually recognizes one of them as being his old friend. This interaction sets up a great dramatic tension that could have been played out with great effect in this production. They chose to ignore this in favor of having the infected be faceless ghouls. This choice drains the film of some key tools to drive any symbolism and/or dramatic tension. The idea of Neville being called after as he tries to get home in time, or having the infected attempt to lure him out at night seems like cinematic gold. The irony of his never ending loneliness being interrupted every night by the voices of the undead calling for his blood could have been riveting. As it stands, we're stuck with pale, bald growlers.

Overall, the film succeeds, but it could have been far better. As a McMovie, it entertains, retains a worthy message and closes with a satisfying conclusion. Yes, I'm one of the few critics who think this film ended well. Actually, the ending is nearly perfect from my point-of-view. Neville's Christ-like sacrifice and the prominent images of the church at the end of the movie are well-placed and make an important point. The original ending, the one in the final film is an alternative that was thankfully inserted, had Neville and the zombies coming to terms. Neville gives up the girl zombie to the head zombie guy who holds her gently. This original ending is the typical moral-relativist conclusion we see these days. This ending would have spoiled the sin and redemption through blood concepts so vividly displayed in the final close.

Should you see it? Sure. Particularly if you've ever sat through The Omega Man, the embarrassing Charlton Heston version of the same story. For all of the faults of this production, it didn't make the zombies into nonsense babbling hippies.

Cautions: It has zombies so there's plenty of violence. The violence is rather subdued and there isn't much gore. The language is rather tame as well.

Worldview: Exceedingly rare in Hollywood films is not only the mention of God by name but the instruction that he is concerned for humanity and works with us directly. Normally Hollywood deals with issues of faith in neutered language that fails to reveal any real conviction to anything real. This film stunningly breaks from that tradition. While Neville drives through an abandoned New York he casually passes a sign that reads "God still loves us". Presumptively, he has been passing by this obtuse sign of hope everyday since the apocalypse destroyed his world. This reminder of the endearing love God shows for his creation didn't make it into the film by accident. This is also the case with Neville's picture of himself on a magazine cover citing him as a "savior". The film sets Neville to be a surrogate Christ-figure, but one that has been distracted. He has been flummoxed by the apocalypse because he has insisted on seeing the devastation through the eyes of the material, through science. Employing science while ignoring the governing hand of God is like completing a jigsaw puzzle upside down. You can figure out how the pieces fit together but you're missing the beauty and function of the design. Neville struggles to find a man-made cure for the infection (sin) but is unable. When Neville finds Anna (who is reminiscent of the prophetess from Luke 36-38). She tells him that God still exists and that "he has a plan". Of course, meaning a plan to eradicate the infection/sin. In the end, Neville sacrifices himself and gives the cure for the infection/sin derived from his own blood, again he is a Christ-figure, to Anna who witnesses his sacrificial death. She then travels to a sanctuary where she closes the film telling of how Neville and his blood cure was indeed the savior of humanity. The Christian overtones to the film are unmistakable and wonderfully woven in without being to heavy-handed. Pay attention Christian filmmakers, the inclusion of faith is exactly how it should be done. Faith plays a critical role in the production but doesn't consume it, God is involved but the narrative doesn't turn into a Bible-banging sermon. Its amazing what a little subtlety can do.

Click below to view the trailer

Related Review:
Omega Man (1971)

Other Critic's Reviews:
Monsters and Critics
Rolling Stone

Labels: film, movie review, Will Smith, zombie

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