i am legend

Nothing like a review for a movie that is just in the movie theatres. Wait. The paragraph should start, This is...

Ah well. We picked up I am Legend at Sam's this past weekend. It was very cheap, and we had been picking it up and putting back for months, saying, "hmmm, I would like to see that. I don't know if I want to own it, but I'd like to watch it." Well, losers that we are, we never even got around to renting it or anything. Then a couple of weeks ago, we almost decided to buy it, but the copy they had rattled in the case. Not a good sign. This week, everything was hunky dory, so...

So much for the saga behind the movie purchase, and on to the movie review. OK, spoiler alert. I'll give you that warning, to be fair, for those of you who haven't managed to see the movie yet.

If you didn't know, I am Legend is an apocalyptic story about a mutated virus that cures cancer, but turns deadly in its own right. Incredibly contageous, it decimates the population, killing most outright, leaving a few survivors who are immune, and others who are "changed." It stars Will Smith, who pretty much carries the movie, and does it reasonably well. The man can act. The monsters are quick, strong, violent and hungry, but can't stand ultraviolet light and are mainly done in reasonable CG. I know that they can do wonderful stuff with CG, but a little goes a long way for me. So Will is a military scientist who must find a cure for this virus, which he is immune to. The science in this movie is rather lacking, fo a man who has a laboratory in his basement. He makes multiple copies of his video log, but mentions nothing about what he does to change the various versions of his "antidote." For someone like me who grew up on Star Trek, and was way too happy to watch Next Generation, etc, a little scientific nonsense speak would have even helped here. He also reported that the creatures had completely devolved. Except that they had a leader, who took it personally that Will captured his girlfriend for testing and was smart enough to use Will's trap design against him. hmmm doesn't seem completely devolved to me. The other complaint I had was the "convenience factor." I mean the timing was everything in this movie. On the one hand, I get that pacing is important, and things must move along, but still, when it interferes with my willing suspension of disbelief, well, it's too much.

All in all, I would recommend this movie as a DVD pick. I'm sure I will watch it more than just this once, and enjoy it, and maybe even see something I missed in this viewing. It was watchable, but not surprising.