Rotten Watch: I Am Legend

Status
Not open for further replies.
Economan said:
An awesome ending would have been if
after Robert blows himself and the zombies up with the grenade, the heat resulting from the blast fuses the door shut where the mother and child are hiding behind
.
Click to expand...


You'd have to have HUGE BALLS to do that as a director. :lol
 
It would have been so much cheaper to hire Greg Nicotero to do vampire makeup. Hell, the monsters in The Descent were better and they weren't CG.
 
I was also in tears when
Snape killed Dumbledore.
Oh SNAP!!!
Wrong Movie. Lucky I spoilered it.
 
One more negative that I forgot to mention in my earlier posts...

It was ludicrous that Sam
got infected in the first place. AFAIK, you can't cure an animal of being vulnerable to an airborne version of a virus without curing them of fluidic transmission of the virus as well. Your immune system can either handle it or it can't; it shouldn't matter how it enters the body.
 
First, let me say that I did enjoy the movie. I've been following production on this flick since it was first rumored to have Arnold Schwarzenegger in the mid-90's. When they said they were going to attach Will Smith, after his performance on Independence Day, I nearly cut someone. He was a hack back then and although not much improved, he can dish out a reasonable performance from time to time. Going into this film, I had higher hopes than in '97, when I read about the pre-prod (yeah, this film has been talked about for ten years).

Still, in my minds eye while reading 'I Am Legend' over a decade ago (and several times since), I've always pictured a dark, disturbed character as Robert Neville. The real Robert Neville wouldn't say something like "Light up the darkness." C'mon now? Retarded. Anyone who has read 'I Am Legend' knows this - they should have called this 'I Am Bob Marley Fan' if they're going to make Neville a good-hearted scientist trying to create a cure to better the world rather than the real deal, the last man on Earth who kills these creatures so they don't kill him - thereby becoming a legend.

Here's what I liked:

- New York City was fucking empty. A lot of films have a hard time deconstructing major cities ('12 Monkeys' did a good job) but this film does an awesome job. I loved the dark, empty lonliness - the chaos of those final moments frozen in time, and the pre-requisite for some sort of schedule and purpose by the main character, to keep from going insane. I liked the dark areas and the calm sense of dread even in broad day light. It was executed very well.

- I thought the cinematography and the flash backs worked well in the film, something I'm always afraid of with anything coming from good source material. At first, the camera work was jarring, but it worked during a few of the sequences and I adapted. It's tough when you switch from long, color-sweet pans over sprawling cityscapes to narrow corridor chases in the dark, but it's done about as good as they could. Well done.

- The vampires were ace. I liked their introduction audio-wise and then later, when the audience sees them for the first time. It reminded me of the best parts of the Blair Witch Project, a sense of extreme yet subdued evil huddled in the corner. The CGI wasn't always spot on, but admittedly we're a jaded people. Someone from five years ago sees it and they'd likely think it was perfect. Overall, I dug the vampires. They seemed evil, over-the-top, but a sincere and persistent threat. I don't normally become unhinged during horror films, but there were a few segments which were successful in this respect.

What I didn't like or otherwise hated:

[Note: I've only seen this once and I want to see it again. My criticisms might change or be removed altogether upon a second viewing, but I feel strongly about them as I've read the source material several times over the last few years.]

- Will Smith's acting.

The guy is an emotional wreck in almost every 'serious' role he has. Maybe this is by choice or maybe the role wasn't whiny until he has his way with it. I've always thought this role should have been played by a Bruce Willis-type character. Robert Neville is a drunken wreck if the source material has told us anything at all. Not a nut case who cries on queue, every single time something 'big' happens. Cowboy up, dude. Stop throwing plates and complaining about a cure. I mean how many times does this guy freak out in the film? I don't care if you've been outside of human communication for five or ten years, why would you feel compelled to throw a typical 'Will Smith trantrum' (I AM CRY - proper title)?

- This movie worked to hard to bridge the space between actually surviving (the REAL I Am Legend) and creating a cure (some other retarded source material). It should have been almost completely about surviving, as was advertised.
Creating a cure was a story vice, the only one which delivered at the end (it was the weakest and least interesting to me), while the survival elements sort of flew away about half way. Lots of storylines began and never went anywhere. The evolution of the vampires was subtle, that's agreed, but it NEVER delivered. That's the entire fulcrum the book was built on, the vampires believing him to be a legend because of their sentience - something not even considered in this version I guess. Weak choice. What about the lack of setup for the explosive devices everywhere? We see him in the vinegar or whatever at the beginning, but we never have any hint that the home was fortified. I guess in 2007 we should automatically assume that a sci-fi movie with Will Smith has explosions, so there's no need for the story to hint or even glint a frame or two in that direction early on
.

- Authenticity was tough to come by to. Running water and electricity in a city three years after the infrastructure goes out? Did the writer know that there's about a hundred checks and balances which make NYC run on a daily basis? What made them think that a lone scientist could supply the resource to maintain water, sewage and power for the entire city or even the part he lived in? Those generators aren't autonomous, especially in NYC. I guess in a world where you can chase deers on foot during a hunt, anything is possible.

In the end, I like the movie. I'd watch it again, possibly even buy it, but for people who enjoy good stories, Matheson's work is far more intriguing. Less explosions and more story.
 
I saw it last night, and enjoyed it.

Although, I am a HUGE fan of dystopias, and can appreciate it conceptually even if the execution isn't the best.

I generally didn't have a problem with the acting.

What I enjoy so much (and I think a lot of other people enjoy) about this genre isn't the literal zombies or monsters, but the social collapse, and psychological impact on the survivors. I think this is what 28 Days Later nailed on the head that a lot of other films miss.

Will Smith was no Tom Hanks in castaway, but good enough that I wasn't thinking of "fresh prince of Manhattan" the whole time.

Honestly, It could have been a fakumentary of an abandoned New York for two hours, everyone gone and just showing wildlife running around and I would have loved it.

Two things hollywood needs to figure out now is that over-animated things next to real people looks bad, and was the hell is CG STILL all shiny?
 
WickedAngel said:
One more negative that I forgot to mention in my earlier posts...

It was ludicrous that Sam
got infected in the first place. AFAIK, you can't cure an animal of being vulnerable to an airborne version of a virus without curing them of fluidic transmission of the virus as well. Your immune system can either handle it or it can't; it shouldn't matter how it enters the body.
Click to expand...

But they said the dog couldn't get the virus airborne. Only through contact.
 
The ending was reshot only a few weeks before it was released. If it seems like the film discards the hints at the zombies "evolving" in a half-assed way, that's because that stuff was (reportedly) supposed to lead into the original ending. There are some descriptions of it floating around.
 
Not sure it's worth the money. It's no Castaway (a plus and negative). I also preferred the execution of Children of Men or even 28 Days better. I definitely dug 12 Monkeys more as well. It's just a slow movie that seems to be building to something, but then abandons it at the last second. Overall pretty meh. PEACE.
 
mckmas8808 said:
But they said the dog couldn't get the virus airborne. Only through contact.
Click to expand...

That's the point. Your immune system can either handle a virus or it can't; it shouldn't have mattered which way it entered the body.
 
FoneBone said:
The ending was reshot only a few weeks before it was released. If it seems like the film discards the hints at the zombies "evolving" in a half-assed way, that's because that stuff was (reportedly) supposed to lead into the original ending. There are some descriptions of it floating around.
Click to expand...
Weak. I incorrectly surmised that the
lead vampire saw his cured mate and halted the attacks at the very end, giving way to the cure himself
. That ending might have been better than what we got. Still, I think the main problem with this film is that it tries to make Robert Neville a hero, something his character isn't in Matheson's version, which, I imagine, is why the source material is embraced to begin with.
 
FoneBone said:
The ending was reshot only a few weeks before it was released. If it seems like the film discards the hints at the zombies "evolving" in a half-assed way, that's because that stuff was (reportedly) supposed to lead into the original ending. There are some descriptions of it floating around.
Click to expand...

I can't seem to find any descriptions of the originally filmed ending. Link?
 
LuCkymoON said:
I went to a viewing last night and loved it.

it would've been better if...

...the woman and the kid were also darkseekers but just undisfigured; her reaction to the lab and all the pictures of the dead darkseekers lead me to think that. I was waiting for her to betray him the entire time and it never came. =(
Click to expand...
Take out
the kid
and you just described the book's ending.
 
Mr Vociferous said:
Weak. I incorrectly surmised that the
lead vampire saw his cured mate and halted the attacks at the very end, giving way to the cure himself
. That ending might have been better than what we got.
Click to expand...
Not quite, but not far from it. From the SA thread, from someone who claims to have worked on the movie (take this with a grain of salt):
The zombie chick on the table has a butterfly tattoo not the human one. She is the Alpha's (main zombie dude's) girlfriend/wife. He came for her and set everything up to get her. When they get in and start banging on the glass he commands his zombie dudes to stop and then draws a butterfly with his blood on the glass. Neville realizes that, opens the glass doors and wheels her out. At this point zombies are just standing around. There is actually a shot in the trailer from this version of the ending where one of the zombies hisses at him. So he wheels her out and gives her anti sedative. She comes to and makes out with her main zombie dude for a bit. He (main zombie) picks her up from the table and commands everybody to leave. Neville realizes that he killed about a hundred of em, he is the real monster. The last shot is the ford car leaving NY but I am not sure if Neville stays or goes
Click to expand...

Another account, which seems to more or less back up the other one:
Ok my buddy saw one of the pre-screenings and I had him e-mail me the ending he saw:

Once Will Smith, Anna and the boy lock themselves in the room with the glass wall in his basement (along with the unconscious female zombie), Smith tries to plead with the zombies, saying he can still cure them. However, Smith eventually sees/understands that all the zombies really want is the female zombie (who hasn't been cured and is NEVER cured). So, much like the scene in Jurassic Park: The Lost World where Jeff Goldbloom & co open the door to their trailer and give the mother T-Rex her baby back, Smith does the same. He takes a chance and unlocks the glass door and gives the dominate zombie the female back. The zombies surround Smith and kind of growl and intimidate him, but ultimately, all the zombies just walk away (with the unconscious body of the female in tow) and do absolutely nothing to Smith, the woman and the boy.

The next (and final) scene begins with a voice over from Anna talking about hope (or something... I was so pissed to be hearing her voice end the movie, I don't remember what she said, specifically) accompanied by shot (the next day) from inside a car (I think it was the red Mustang from the opening scene) with Smith, Anna and the boy driving away, leaving New York City, presumably to find the survivors Anna had spoken about earlier.

I understood what the whole thing meant, and what the filmmakers were trying to get across, but it left A LOT to be desired. It just felt so anti-climatic and abrupt.

I do believe that sounds worse than the final cut
Click to expand...
Sounds more conceptually interesting, but it may not have worked so well, either. It'll almost certainly end up on the DVD, so we can all see for ourselves then.
 
FoneBone said:
That's it, basically. From the SA thread, from someone who claims to have worked on the movie (take this with a grain of salt):

Another account, which seems to more or less back up the other one: Sounds more conceptually interesting, but it may not have worked so well, either. It'll almost certainly end up on the DVD, so we can all see for ourselves then.
Click to expand...

They undoubtedly shot it because it was at the end of some of the previews. You could see a closeup of Will Smith's face and the rest of the screen was filled with the face of another that was right by head head, growling.

I noticed that it wasn't in the film but never knew why (I remembered because it was the first time I realized that the CG really wasn't going to do this movie justice). Now we know...they chose a shitty ending over a better one.
 
WickedAngel said:
That's the point. Your immune system can either handle a virus or it can't; it shouldn't have mattered which way it entered the body.
Click to expand...

I'm not a virologist but I do know something about viruses. The airborne and contact strains are two different strains of the K virus. That does not mean that there was just one simple mutation that led it to survive in the air (that is, sans moisture). The development of this kind of strain would require a number of mutations and, consequently, one would expect there to be multiple, unforseen consequences due to the sheer number of mutations. Perhaps the airborne strain now features an epitope that is easily recognized by the dog major histocompatability complex, DLA (which has been shown to be different than human and cat MCHs, genetically). And perhaps the contact strain, with fewer mutations, remains invisible to host defense.

In other words, it's not impossible for such a scenario to exist.
 
Loved the movie. Will Smith damn a damn good performance. The emotional scenes were great and damn is he a good cryer, very believable. The scenes Sam and the manikin were so damn depressing it caught me off guard that the movie could be sad. I thought it was going to be more of a happy kill the monsters Will Smith movie, but yeah, totally different and thought it was great.
 
Iceman said:
I'm not a virologist but I do know something about viruses. The airborne and contact strains are two different strains of the K virus. That does not mean that there was just one simple mutation that led it to survive in the air (that is, sans moisture). The development of this kind of strain would require a number of mutations and, consequently, one would expect there to be multiple, unforseen consequences due to the sheer number of mutations. Perhaps the airborne strain now features an epitope that is easily recognized by the dog major histocompatability complex, DLA (which has been shown to be different than human and cat MCHs, genetically). And perhaps the contact strain, with fewer mutations, remains invisible to host defense.

In other words, it's not impossible for such a scenario to exist.
Click to expand...

I'm aware that that is possible but it wasn't even hinted at (Varying mutations of KV). It could just be another detail that they glossed over (One of many).
 
Iamthegamer said:
Doesn't really make sense in the whole scheme of them trying to eat the human people whenever they can...
Click to expand...

Yeah it doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't they want to eat him for food?
 
Great movie. Thought the ending was kind of lame, but the pacing and suspense was on point the whole way thru. Great scenes too over all like
when he is hanging from a wire and the hounds are released.
 
trust me on this. the m ovie is worth seeing just to see New York city deserted. It was the best part of the movie by far and absolutely surreal/awesome.
 
There is a freaking 300 post thread on IMDB about
who set up the snare that roped Neville. There are a couple of guys who are just adamant that Neville set up the trap himself, forgot about it, and walked into it.

You have got to be kidding me right? They're either stupid or trolls. Funny as all hell though, it's made me laugh a few times.
 
Dr.Acula said:
There is a freaking 300 post thread on IMDB about
who set up the snare that roped Neville. There are a couple of guys who are just adamant that Neville set up the trap himself, forgot about it, and walked into it.

You have got to be kidding me right? They're either stupid or trolls. Funny as all hell though, it's made me laugh a few times.
Click to expand...
Well...to be fair, he was losing it.
 
WickedAngel said:
They undoubtedly shot it because it was at the end of some of the previews. You could see a closeup of Will Smith's face and the rest of the screen was filled with the face of another that was right by head head, growling.

I noticed that it wasn't in the film but never knew why (I remembered because it was the first time I realized that the CG really wasn't going to do this movie justice). Now we know...they chose a shitty ending over a better one.
Click to expand...

At the end, when Neville
pulls that grenade out of the drawer
, my buddy turns to me and say, "I love how he just has stuff like that lying around his house."
 
Dr.Acula said:
There is a freaking 300 post thread on IMDB about
who set up the snare that roped Neville. There are a couple of guys who are just adamant that Neville set up the trap himself, forgot about it, and walked into it.

You have got to be kidding me right? They're either stupid or trolls. Funny as all hell though, it's made me laugh a few times.
Click to expand...

i guess it was a coincidence that
the male zombie who saw the original trap take the female just happened to be in the building right next to the new trap holding back a bunch of dogs to attack Neville.
:lol
 
Dr.Acula said:
At the end, when Neville
pulls that grenade out of the drawer
, my buddy turns to me and say, "I love how he just has stuff like that lying around his house."
Click to expand...

When your surrounded by blood thirsty monsters 24/7, that sounds about right.
 
Dr.Acula said:
At the end, when Neville
pulls that grenade out of the drawer
, my buddy turns to me and say, "I love how he just has stuff like that lying around his house."
Click to expand...
Living in the world he does, I can imagine living like that.
 
Saw it opening night and thought it was pretty good. I wish it had kept the book's ending, but a more happy finale is typical amongst most hollywood fodder these days. Seeing NYC absolutely abandoned was so awesome, though.
 
disappeared said:
I liked the mannequins that Neville set up for himself. That was a really nice touch.
Click to expand...

Yeah and it was weird seeing him talk to them like that.
 
Mr Vociferous said:
What about the lack of setup for the explosive devices everywhere? We see him in the vinegar or whatever at the beginning, but we never have any hint that the home was fortified. I guess in 2007 we should automatically assume that a sci-fi movie with Will Smith has explosions, so there's no need for the story to hint or even glint a frame or two in that direction early on
.
Click to expand...
In the beginning of the movie where he drives home for the first time you can see barrels rigged with explosives ringed around the perimeter of the area. There's also a line of cars in front of his house that he might have put there as a barricade,
remember the insane amount of keys he had hanging in his closet.
 
I thought it was awesome. Like many of you, seeing NYC completely abandoned was very cool. All that I was left wanting was a little more of a description on how the city became abandoned and how all the people mutated and what the transition process was like on the grand scale.

I guess I'll have to read the book.
 
Gonna see it again but this time on IMAX.
On the snare Neville gets caught in--I also thought that he had set it himself at some point and had completely forgotten about it and that the mannequin was moved there by that one "leader" DS. It made it more believable to me in that it allowed the DS some semblance of intelligence (like an animal that gets wise to traps) without being too silly (they figured out how to rig a trap just like Neville). Moving the mannequin there also seems more in the realm of possibility that way.
 
LakeEarth said:
The CG was really bad. Why exactly were the zombies CG in the first place?
Click to expand...

The director wasn't happy with how the stuntmen looked in the makeup and thought using CG would give him the look and performance he wanted. I wonder if any of the footage they shot using the makeup will show up as a special feature on the DVD/HD/Blu-ray release.
 
Cardon said:
The director wasn't happy with how the stuntmen looked in the makeup and thought using CG would give him the look and performance he wanted. I wonder if anyone of the footage they shot using the makeup will show up as a special feature on the DVD/HD/Blu-ray release.
Click to expand...

I'm praying that they shot the final few events more similar to the book's and include it. That would be so good.
 
disappeared said:
I'm praying that they shot the final few events more similar to the book's and include it. That would be so good.
Click to expand...

The doesn't sound so hot actually, seeing as how
the movie does not suggest that Neville searches out and kills an inordinate amount of darkseekers. I think it only implies that he searches them out in order to trap subjects for human tests.. and only when he has a candidate compound ready. If anything he is absolutely terrified to be anywhere near them.
The original (book) ending wouldn't fit with this adaptation. imo.
 
LakeEarth said:
The CG was really bad. Why exactly were the zombies CG in the first place?
Click to expand...

I agree with you but at the same time with the speed in which they moved and the quick-cut shots used throughout the flick, it really didn't bother me all that much.

I really, really did love it overall. Even with
Jesus freak lady
.
 
Iceman said:
The doesn't sound so hot actually, seeing as how
the movie does not suggest that Neville searches out and kills an inordinate amount of darkseekers. I think it only implies that he searches them out in order to trap subjects for human tests.. and only when he has a candidate compound ready. If anything he is absolutely terrified to be anywhere near them.
The original (book) ending wouldn't fit with this adaptation. imo.
Click to expand...
He is terrified of them. When he runs into the building at the beginning to get Sam, he actually has to talk himself into doing it.
 
JdFoX187 said:
He is terrified of them. When he runs into the building at the beginning to get Sam, he actually has to talk himself into doing it.
Click to expand...

God how fucking intense was that scene?? Shit-your-pants intense. And again
why the hell were the Zampires (zombie vampires!) doing standing in a circle and shaking/trembling???
 
bob_arctor said:
God how fucking intense was that scene?? Shit-your-pants intense. And again
why the hell were the Zampires (zombie vampires!) doing standing in a circle and shaking/trembling???
Click to expand...
I was on the edge of my seat through that entire scene. A lot of people in the theater jumped when
he shined his light into the room and saw all of them there
I was somewhat disappointed that ominous feeling over the Dark Seekers wasn't carried throughout the rest of the film.
 
bob_arctor said:
God how fucking intense was that scene?? Shit-your-pants intense. And again
why the hell were the Zampires (zombie vampires!) doing standing in a circle and shaking/trembling???
Click to expand...


circle jerk?
 
JdFoX187 said:
I was on the edge of my seat through that entire scene. A lot of people in the theater jumped when
he shined his light into the room and saw all of them there
I was somewhat disappointed that ominous feeling over the Dark Seekers wasn't carried throughout the rest of the film.
Click to expand...

That part reminded my of the Blair Witch ending
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

The Crow | Rotten Watch
News Cringe  2
76
6K
Kraz replied
Deadpool & Wolverine | Rotten Watch
Community 
29
3K
Durien replied
Alien Romulus | Rotten Watch
News Community  10 11 12 13 14
661
43K
violence replied
Borderlands Movie | Rotten Watch
Community Cringe  2 3
122
10K
StreetsofBeige replied
"Madame Web" | Rotten Watch
2
91
9K
wondermega replied
Top Bottom