Director: Francis Lawrence
Richard Matheson's 1954 novel "I am Legend" is considered a classic of the sci-fi genre. It tells the story of factory worker Robert Neville who barricades himself inside his house each night to stave off his taunting neighbors, former friends who have become vampires. He habitually turns up his stereo and drinks himself into a stupor to forget momentarily that he's the last human alive.
In this latest film adaptation, the third based loosely on the same novel, Will Smith plays Neville, a military doctor living utterly alone in New York after a plague has wiped out nearly all of humanity.
The audience first meets Neville while he's racing a sports car through the deserted streets of Manhattan. He and his only companion, a German shepherd, are hunting a herd of wild game that's migrating through the avenues.
At night, we soon learn, the tables are turned, as some of those infected with the virus have mutated into hairless, nocturnal and violent creatures and would like nothing more than to break into Neville's home and snack on his flesh.
Through flashbacks, taped TV broadcasts and conveniently placed newspaper clippings the audience is given a more complete story of the virus and how it spread, as well as Neville's own background.
While occupying himself with the chores of survival and working on a cure for the virus in his basement laboratory, Neville puts on a veneer of quiet confidence. It is, however, only a veneer, and there's evidence that he's losing his battle to hold onto the last scraps of his sanity while profound loneliness and grief over the loss of his wife and daughter take their toll.
He's also, it seems, losing the battle with the creatures, who have somehow become more intelligent than he expected.
While the film is billed as a sci-fi adventure, it has more elements of a horror film than the trailers let on. The directing style leads viewers to expect something scary to attack from behind every corner, and often that's just what happens.
The beauty of this film however, is its amazing depiction of a deserted Manhattan, very much like the iconic views of an empty London in "28 Days Later," though in this case vegetation and wild animals have started to reclaim the urban landscape.
Add to this Smith's powerful performance as a man pushed beyond the brink, and this one is a winner 's at least for those not easily spooked.
Now playing in Estonia.
Opens in Latvia Jan. 11 and
in Lithuania Jan. 25.
