If you’re like me, you got a little excited when you saw the trailer for the Will Smith blockbuster “I am Legend.” I mean, it had a pretty good premise: a man finds a cure for cancer, but instead of helping people, the drug mutates and destroys civilization, leaving a single solitary man, Robert Neville (Smith) on Earth. I went to the theater to see this movie with my hopes high; I was certain I would see people mutating in front of my very eyes, eating other humans as this one normal man worked tirelessly to reverse the effect of the so-called cure.
Instead there was way too much talk and not enough visual to back it up. Robert Neville and his companion (a dog he keeps with him named Sam) go out during the day to try and lead as normal a life as possible, and once night falls they lock themselves up and try to stay out of harms way, away from mutated humans and animals.
But the only indication that these people are out at night doing wrong is simply the sounds they make–a lot of scampering, breaking, and groaning.
When Neville finally reveals exactly what happened to the world and who is responsible for it, I was upset that: (1) He waited so long into the movie to explain, and (2) They did not show what happened to the world instead of just talking about it.
I’m not sure why the screenwriter decided to go this way. Maybe they spent too much money securing Will Smith and had to cut out important scenes to stay within budget? Will Smith does a phenomenal job as the last man on Earth, but by the end of the credit roll, I found myself not satisfied as usual, but disappointed.