I Am Legend

I took Jason to see I Am Legend this week and like so many other recent films it was intense, exciting, gripping, etc. and yet too many little things “off” for it to be a great film. Will Smith’s Robert Neville is a wonderful portrait of a man, alone for 3+ years after a virus has killed 90% of the world’s population and turned another 8-9% into rabid, maniacal creatures intent on killing the remaining 2% of the population. You see Neville meticulously placing canned goods on shelves, working on an antidote, watching reruns on TV and hunting / gathering food by day, hunkered down at night when the bogeymen come out. When he is rescued from what would seem to be an attempt at suicide by a woman and boy, Rosary hanging from her rear view mirror, you begin to see how desperately alone Neville is. As Anna prepares something to eat Neville is transfixed by Shrek, speaking the lines in sync with the movie, ignoring his rescuers who are quite probably the only normal people he has seen in years while they stare at him in credulity. No one bothers saying grace before eating and while we wouldn’t expect a cynic to pray wouldn’t the Rosary toting Anna who tells Neville that she is there because God told her to come at least give thanks for the meal. The movie ends with Neville handing a vial of blood from a cured victim to Anna as he places her and the boy into a coal chute, tells her “ I’m listening” and sacrificing himself to save them from the creatures who have breached the security of his home. Anna and the boy head to Vermont where they meet up with other survivors in a traditional town centered on a church. Forgetting obvious flaws like having electricity, natural gas, running, potable water, Anna getting her car onto and off Manhattan after the Air Force had destroyed bridges in a vain effort to contain the virus and the over the top CGI bogeymen this movie could have been a great film if it had spent another 15 -20 minutes delving into the question of being human and what it means, our relationship with God, are the victims less human because they have been altered by the virus? There were strains of Moses and Mengele just waiting for embellishment. Oh well, maybe next time.