I Am Legend: Not Exactly Leaping off the Page

by Brett Parker


Richard Matheson’s "I Am Legend" is one of the all-time great horror novels as well as one of my personal favorites. The story imagines a post-apocalyptic world in which an ordinary man named Robert Neville is the only survivor after mankind was struck by a deadly virus. This virus turned the rest of mankind into blood-thirsty vampires, making Neville the only source of fresh blood left on the planet. The novel shows how Neville gathers tools and weapons by day and fights off countless vampires at night, who all know where he lives. In order to survive, Neville has to reexamine everything humans have ever known about vampires, including their vulnerabilities to garlic, mirrors, and Catholicism. So the novel was not only an exciting survivor tale but also a clever study of the vampire mythology. It all leads to a chilling climax in which we painfully discover how the book got its title.

I understand that when novels are adapted to big screen Hollywood fare, elements of the novel suffer or disappear in the translation. However, I find it supremely disappointing that Francis Lawrence’s take on I Am Legend has elbowed the vampires right out of the film. Instead, we see Neville battling light-sensitive Zombies spawned from a biochemical accident. Nothing against Zombies, but they’ve been done to death in today’s Hollywood. They’ve been done to terrifying perfection in 28 Days Later and delicious camp in Planet Terror. While they will never be accused of being boring, they hardly feel as original nowadays as vampires could be. The novel had such a fresh and fascinating view of vampires, so why discard them for the big screen? Why throw out such an original idea for a concept that’s been done to death before? It also doesn’t help that the Zombie effects are probably the cheesiest CGI work of this year.

It’s a testament to Lawrence’s filmmaking, as well as star Will Smith’s talents, that in spite of its significant flaws, I Am Legend is still an exceptional popcorn film. While the novel explored major ideas of vampires, it also held great focus on the idea of a man living in isolation and dealing with his overwhelming feelings of loss and dread. So its kind of a miracle that this Hollywood film tailored for mass audiences spends more time on those human elements of the story as opposed to the sci-fi ones.

The film stars Will Smith in the role of Neville. Neville is a biochemical engineer who tried helplessly to discover a cure for a super virus that was quickly wiping out the human race. Three years pass and that virus has wiped out all of humanity except for Neville himself, who had discovered that for some reason he was immune. Neville spends his days living in a deserted New York City doing things any one of us would do: drive a sports car, rent movies, play golf on the deck of the Intrepid. He is accompanied by his dog Sam, who is his sole companion in this post-apocalyptic world. At night, Neville must hide himself from countless infected Zombies. They were once humans, but the viral infections have mutated them into hostile, nocturnal creatures that are like a cross between the monsters from The Descent and Crash Test Dummies. The film follows Neville as he tries to find a cure that could maybe reverse the effects of the Zombies and make them humans once again.
So of course the bad news of the film is the Zombies themselves. They are not explained very well nor do they look very convincing. In the novel, Matheson explained the Vampires down to the tiniest detail. In the film, we’re left with big questions about these strange creatures. Why are they light sensitive? Do they hunger for humans or just want to hurt them on principle? How smart are they? If the virus caused their bodies to decay, how come their agility is enhanced? It doesn’t help matters that the Zombies embody some of the worst special effects work in recent years. The Zombies are like CGI-Animated video game targets that make the ridiculous robots of I, Robot look like Johnny Five. For beings that used to be human, I don’t buy that a super virus can give them the texture of Shrek. It’s funny how some CGI work can be so convincing (as in, for example, The Aviator) while work like this makes it seem damaging to a film. I guess it truly is an art form, with some works of art better than others.

It is ultimately the focus on Will Smith’s portrayal of Neville that saves the film. Like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, Smith holds our attention even though there are long, silent passages where it is solely him on screen. It says something that his human moments upstage the big special effect sequences. Whether he’s talking about Bob Marley, going berserk on a mannequin, or talking to a dog, Smith helps to keep things as interesting as they should be. I especially liked a heartbreaking moment where Smith begs a female mannequin to “please say hello to me.”

Perhaps I shouldn’t have whipped the film so badly for not being as good as the novel. Fans of literature always have their personal issues with the film adaptations of their favorite books. Perhaps my issues with I Am Legend are very well my own. On its own, I Am Legend is a very gripping and interesting flick with big moments of excitement you are not soon to forget. These moments include the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge, a hunt for deer through Times Square, and a white-knuckled scene in a dark warehouse. And while the ending is not as bleak or as terrifying as in the novel, it must be said that it’s less confusing and more hopeful. The film is definitely worth seeing, but considering the source material, it could’ve been legendary.