I AM LEGEND: Will Smith in a sci-fi ending that disappoints

There’s a scene in The Devil’s Advocate where Keanu Reeves, upon exiting a building, sees a completely deserted city. A few years later, Cameron Crowe presented a similar motif in Vanilla Sky, where in the opening sequence we see Tom Cruise running through a lifeless city. These scenes are brief, but their magic and power make them unforgettable. There’s something deeply fascinating about the apocalyptic vision of an abandoned city that once pulsed with life. Unfortunately, there are very few films that skillfully use this motif to build their main storyline (Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later is definitely worth mentioning), which is why I waited with hope and impatience for a title that would let me once again lose myself in an apocalyptic vision of a ruined world. Sadly, Francis Lawrence’s I Am Legend only partially met my expectations.

I Am Legend is yet another remake of the classic 1964 sci-fi film The Last Man on Earth, which I haven’t seen, so I’ll skip any comparisons. It tells the story of a man named Robert Neville, who is the sole human survivor after a mysterious virus outbreak. The rest of the population, having fallen victim to the plague, have turned into bloodthirsty, predatory creatures. These beings are vulnerable to sunlight and therefore only hunt at night, which is why they are often described as vampires in the film’s synopses. Neville, refusing to give up, is trying to find a cure that will save the infected and awaken the dormant world back to life.

The lead role is played by Will Smith—an actor who has already had several brushes with futuristic cinema (Independence Day, or more recently, I, Robot). And it must be said that he did a decent job. He convincingly portrayed a man crushed by overwhelming loneliness. At times, his performance reminded me of Tom Hanks in Cast Away, especially during scenes where he talked to mannequins or his dog (Hanks talked to a volleyball). Admittedly, he didn’t deliver anything groundbreaking here (nor did he really have the opportunity to), but he subtly reminded us that he’s still striving for a place among respected actors. Personally, he doesn’t need to prove anything to me—I appreciate the unique ease with which he inhabits his characters.

In my opinion, the film can clearly be divided into two halves. The first half is a solid piece of sci-fi with touches of action and some genuinely tense horror moments (there’s one scene that could easily compete with many horror films in terms of suspense). What really stands out is the stunningly realistic directorial vision of a fallen New York. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many deserted neighborhoods at once in a film. This is unquestionably one of the movie’s strongest points—executed so meticulously that I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets an Oscar nomination for production design or special effects (depending on what tools were used to bring the vision to life). If I were to rewatch the film, it would be just to once again see Neville tearing through New York’s silence with the roar of his car engine. That scene is almost a signature for the entire film.

The second half of the movie, however, is a different story. I won’t reveal exactly when the decline begins, but the turning point is very clear. From that moment, the film reveals itself as a shallow and overly patriotic piece. Its main strengths vanish without a trace, buried under the weight of a naive and formulaic script. This is felt most acutely in the final scene of the film.

In the end, what we have here is an uneven film. Just as we’re swept away by the excitement of the director’s electrifying vision, that excitement slowly fades, leaving us somewhat disappointed. The trick, however, is to skillfully separate and forget the parts that let us down from those that thrilled us. To be honest, I’ve already forgotten the second half of the film. What I want to remember—and will remember—is one of the most powerful (so far) apocalyptic visions of a deserted city.