ONE HARSH CRITIC: I am Legend

I Am Legend
 A Review
By Josh Gloer

There are very few actors that can keep an audience captive for two hours all by themselves.  Think about it - your favorite actor on screen for two hours, their only supporting cast a volleyball or a dog. Could they do it? Would you really be interested in watching them for that long?

It's a daring feat, one that could tank with the slightest slip of story, acting or directing.  It's a problem that  I am Legend seems happy to take on.  An adaptation of a book (and a remake of an adaptation) by the same name, Legend features only a handful of actors, and largely Will Smith and a well-trained German Shepard named Abby.  

Smith isn't the kind of actor I'd bank on to take the lead all by himself. He's a great actor, don't get me wrong, but him and only him? Well, he proved me wrong. He made the film moving - tragic, human, funny and endearing - all without any co-stars (sans the voiceless Abby). He made the film where others would have failed, and is able to keep an audience captive for nearly two hours.

So the next question is, how is this movie not 28 Days Later or another dozen apocalyptic zombie films? That answer again lies in the amout of characters. With Smith acting (nearly) alone throughout, this film had to be smarter. In plot, its nearly identical. A virus has swept through Manhattan (an island like 28 Day's England). A quarantine is issued. It doesn't work.  Smith plays Robert Neville, a military scientist who is somehow immune.

And this is where Legend separates itself from all other zombie films. Neville is a survivor, and he wants to save the human race. In all other movies of this kind, the idea is to run, run, run and one by one, the man characters are picked off by brain eating mutants. Neville is on his own.  He tries his best to maintain normal life. He rents movies, he plays golf. As long as he's home by dark, all is well.

The plot gets smarter than the average zombie slasher as Neville is trying to cures these beasts.  They're not evil, they're humans infected by a man made virus. Neville is trying to run tests to see if he can save them. Sure he kills them all in the process, but the thought's there.  

Eventually, Neville realizes he's not the only survivor. There's a camp repopulating the earth, somewhere in the mountains, blah, blah, blah.  That's where they lost me. I was fascinated by this man and his dog, doing what they could, against such great odds to save the world. No super powers, no magic wands, just a man and his dog working day after day to revive normalcy.  

I say its worth a shot. If nothing else, you'll be amazed at what Hollywood animal trainers have managed to get Abby to do. And at the very most, you'll re-evaluate your own commitment to helping those around you.
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Josh Gloer, Movie Correspondent

You can find Josh's column One Harsh Critic, published every other Sunday, Monday, Thurs, Who can tell?  at http://oneharshcritic.gather.com.

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