Will Smith's latest, 'I Am Legend', balances carefully between 'serious sci-fi' film and blockbuster, though ultimately its the latter that wins out. The strong action sequences and horror elements stand alongside subtle references to ethics in science to create a gripping narrative with moments of intelligence.
The central premise is that in the near-future a new, absolute cure for cancer, which uses controlled viruses, takes a turn for the worse. Three years later 90% of the world's population dies, 1% is immune, and the remaining 9% have become infected: hideous vampire-like, rabid monsters, who have killed most of the survivors. In New York, however, where this all began, Will Smith's military virologist, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville, has forged out a life among the debris. Along with his dog, he drives around the abandoned city hunting deer, picking up DVDs from his local store, and trying to find other survivors. But when the darkness comes he must return to his home, a fortress, as the infected come out to feed.
Occasionally, he kidnaps a 'dark seeker' and takes them to his home laboratory, where he tries to find a cure made from his own blood. It is hear that interesting questions of medical testing of humans, andthe idea of playing God, arise.
The film is incredibly successful at sustaining tension and almost the whole time is spent on the edge of your seat. The shots of an empty, overgrown New York are utterly astounding, and Neville's immense isolation is wonderfully portrayed by Will Smith. In comparison to a film like 'Castaway', where we share a desert island with Tom Hanks, 'I Am Legend's sense of loneliness is far more intense and harrowing. Will Smith is undeniably a very talented actor; although it's hard to imagine him being stretched far beyond the cool hero type; and his ability to maintain our interest, and also strongly empathise with his situation, is well handled. The emotional scenes certainly pack a punch and at one point, when he desperately asks a mannekin to talk to him, I was close to tears.
The suspenseful horror was equally powerful. The infected are unknown to us for quite a while, although their presence is constantly at the back of our mind. The fact that they only live in darkness ensures that any encounters will be terrifying. The first time we see them it is suitably disorientating but again, the majority of the fear we feel is conveyed by Smith's own performance. Like a lot of the best monsters, what makes these most scary is their closeness to real humans. Persoanlly I feel it was taken a little too far (and like most sci-fi, horror films htere are plenty of questions raised as to how realistic this transformation really is), and feel that had the been closer to who we really are it could have been far more disconcerting. We do discover, however, that they retain a level of intelligence that enables them to launch planned attacks, as well as form emotional relationships. Neville learns throughout the film, that the creatures he's had relatively little contact with, are not just monsters but humans in an altered state. By the end of the film, at his most helpless, we find him attempting to negotiate with them, asking them to let him save them.
It's this revelation that they are still humans that raises the question of human testing. We see that Neville has made several tests on the creatures, with little success. Perhaps a hundred of them have died at his hands and he shows no remorse, his attitudes changed by his intense situation. Through dialogue with another survivor, however, the conflict between religion and science is introduced. In answer to her claims that God has brought them together, to survive together, Neville answers that "it wasn't God who did this, it was us." Inevitably, though, Neville himself is playing God by trying to alter things again and cure the infected. Through use of the music of Bob Marley, used throughout the film, the idea is established that it is humans alone that must step out of the darkness and into the light to bring good to the world, now matter how powerful the evil forces may be.
Through the use of flashbacks the narrative is broken up rather than keeping us with Smith the entire time, although he is entertaining and it's very reassuring that the fate of the human race is left in his very capable hands. The story of how the virus spreads is very believable and unsettling, though the film always retains an element of escapism.
All in all it's an entertaining film that never lets itself get bogged down by it's heavier themes, which are more suited to films like 'Contact' that an action-blockbuster. The presence of screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, with credits such as 'Batman Forever' and 'A Beautiful Mind' to his name, ensures we get a healthy dose of both excitement and heart without too much intelligence to distract us from what is ultimately a fun scary film. But one that perhaps we should be more afraid of, and think about similar implications in our real lives.
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