Jump to content
TSM Forums
Sign in to follow this  
Gary Floyd

I Am Legend

Recommended Posts

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/iamlegend/large.html

 

I don't know...The story is one of my favorite horror stories of all time, and my favortite vampire story of all time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, the good thing is Will Smith is in it and he's a damn fine actor. So at least it wasn't someone crappy re-doing the storyline. I like they don't reveal what the vampire-like people look like, they should really avoid doing that.

 

Who directed the movie anyway? I forgot all about it being made.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The likelihood this is anything like I am Legend the story is pretty slim if you ask me. Mostly because this looks like it has all the signs of being actiony and shouldn't be. I guess you have to keep the ending or the name doesn't make much sense.

 

But the fanboys being pissed about Will playing Neville because he is black is HILARIOUS.

 

If they stick somewhat to the story, you will get a film that will be a cult hit, but the critics probably won't like it because they don't like to think in action movies.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I did some checking and it was directed by Francis Lawrence, who also directed Constantine. I liked Constantine quite a bit (even though it abandoned the comic) so I am actually getting excited about this project.

 

And the original with Heston was pretty action filled considering the time period it was released and the amount of money it was made on. So I don't have a problem with this being a combination of the original story and action movie.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Heston Story pretty much bastardized the original too.

 

I think it was the pullups, ripped up Will in the trailer that let me know it probably won't have much to do with the novel, or at least they have really changed up the character, which I have no problem with.

 

I think that there will be alot of bitching coming though. Like when I Robot came out (which I loved by the way)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The only Will Smith movie I haven't liked is Men in Black 2 and that's only because neither he nor Jones looked like they wanted to even be there. Bad Boys 2 is a close second because it went way too far over the top with the Hummer scene and just became laughable compared to the first one.

 

Odds are the hardcore psycho fanboys have already decided this film will suck without even giving it a chance just because they changed the color of the main character. I look at it as an update to a new world and finding a capable actor to carry a story at least in the same league as the original story. As long as it's not the ultimate insult to the story, I really don't have a problem with it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Odds are the hardcore psycho fanboys have already decided this film will suck without even giving it a chance just because they changed the color of the main character. "

 

I'm weary of this project because of the names attached. A film staring Smith and the director of Constantine has big budget action all over it, and I would prefer to see the story get the melancholy treatment it deserves. The Price version tried to somewhat capture the right tone but it's still incredibly campy; while the "Omega Man" is bizarre 70s fun that has little to do with the Matheson story. I like both movies for what they are but the real story has potential for so much more.

 

Anyways, the only Matheson story I would like to see get remade would be a serious NC-17 rated version of "Hell House" but that will obviously never happen.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

More Vampire goodness:trailer for 30 Days of Night, based on Steve Niles graphic novel. Directed by the guy who did "Hard Candy"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just read the graphic novel version of I Am Legend and never understood why he didn't think that an antidote could be made from his own blood. He was immune to the disease which meant he could fight it off, so why couldn't they create a cure from him?

 

I didn't like the way he went out, too melodramatic. It didn't have to be a happy ending, but he went out pretty lame for all the work he put into surviving.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just wanted to chime in that Omega Man isn't the original movie, either.

 

1964's Last Man On Earth with Vincent Price is, IMO, the best telling of the tale...

 

Comments on the new movie? I'll give it a chance. I'm not waiting with baited breath for it's release - I'm also not keen on any of the names attached to it - but it could pull something out of nowhere and surprise me. I mean, what we're getting now is far better than the original "Will Smith & Johnny Depp buddy movie" that this was rumored to be many months ago...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You know, the book had a chase scene that was actually quite tense. That's hard to pull off in a book. I guess the point is that there's room for action in it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Vincent Price version is fairly badass, and probably my favorite Price movie. He did have a few good ones though. The new version looks like it'll be interesting to see play out at the least.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Yeah, but it's always the same song.. or a variation of that song.

 

No, this one sounded more like something from the score to The Fountain.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Yeah, but it's always the same song.. or a variation of that song.

 

No, this one sounded more like something from the score to The Fountain.

 

It does indeed sound like the song from The Fountain.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This will probably be the best movie I see all year. Will Smith has really developed into a great actor, and I like survival horror genre related movies.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just got back from the theater and I wanted to get a quick note in before I head back out. I haven't been this disappointed in a film in a long time. I really didn't go in expecting much and I got even less than that. While it wasn't a "bad" movie, it was a very dull one. After the final scene, the entire theater started booing. I really wanted to like it, but nothing happened.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To counterpoint the above, I really enjoyed the film, but I can understand WHY people may not like it. The film has been marketed as this big sci-fi actiony movie like I, Robot was. Thing is that while you do get a decent bit of action in the ending, the action is NOT what the film is about. The film is about Robert Neville, and how he deals with his situation. You see how he deals with being the last person alive, and most of that isn't action, but rather, a decent into insanity that is only matched by Tom Hanks in Cast Away, which is a pretty good comparison piece. Much like Hanks creates Wilson just so he has someone that he can communicate too, Neville does the same thing and it got really awkward with the crowd I watched it with.

 

I loved the film just because of how deep it was for a tentpole, but I understand people don't go to these sort of movies to use their brain. Shame.

 

BTW... HO SHIT, DARK KNIGHT LOOKS AMAZING. That is all.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I didn't think it was too good.

 

Wrong balance between action and plot. Should have had more of one or the other. Bad creature effects. Smith is still good, though. The crowd liked it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The way that Smith played the descent into insanity was absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that the movie ever really found what it wanted to be. Is it action? Sure, Is it Horror, a little. Is it drama, absolutely. There were a few funny bits too, and the audience was laughing at inappropriate times, too.

Like the trap scene where he shoots the dummy only to get snared by the darkseekers

It was hard to watch with an audience because people expect Will Smith to be funny when he screams like that, it was really an emotional scene.

 

Anyway, I was disappointed, and I think its a "Rent It" if anything.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

First half - amazing.

 

I can pinpoint the exact moment where it stumbles, and that's when

the woman and her kid show up. They dont have good chemistry with Will Smith, things just get kinda silly, and the film kinda ends abruptly like there's no buildup to the climax, its like, suddenly you hear a noise, ten seconds later here come the hoarde of vampire monsters, and thats it.

Up until the part where he gets rescued everything was built up perfectly and it made perfect sense for him to go nuts and try to run over the whole lot of them. I guess they wanted to brighten things up or whatever, but it woulda been awesome if the whole movie was just Smith and the monsters. Its like the filmmakers didn't have faith that people would by it, but I thought those parts were fantastic.

This movie reminds me of Castaway. Hanks on the island was outstanding, Hanks in the real world, ehhh

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Things I've been repeatedly disappointed by, that they left out from the book:

 

The zombie vampire women put on lewd displays to lure him out of the house. Show me that, just once. Since in this one, they were outright monsters, I ain't expecting it in the deleted scenes either.

Really the crux of the book is talking about just how bored he gets being the last man on earth. That has yet to be conveyed properly in a film version. His descent into alcoholism I liked too, where he starts just getting staggeringly drunk regularly because he literally has nothing better to do. That would be nice to see in a film.

Even the title isn't really as relevant when they change the ending. Sure, they made up a fake explanation for it, but it wasn't as good.

 

I'm not spoiling anything by saying this, but what it originally was, was that the monsters are articulate and speak to him, and they say "You are the monster to us. You come out and kill us while we're sleeping. You are what we frighten our children with when they're bad." Thus... I Am Legend. Still room to make another film version. Just make it accurate. That was fine.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man, did that film ever fall off.

 

At first, I thought the film was pretty good.

The first part of it was fairly good. I liked seeing him create his own routine trying to keep his sanity. Seeing his apartment, his daily life was good. Also, the inclusion of the dog as something he could latch onto for companionship and as the last part of his family was also great. Of course, you

knew it was going to die because he said "Still able to be infected via contact", but hey, they actually managed to create a real link between the dog and Neville.

 

I think the

trap

scene is where things started to go down hill.

The Vampires were just too animalistic for my tastes (As mentioned above), though I was hoping that you'd eventually see more of a society, but you never really do. Him sliding on his ass because he had a little knife in him was stupid as hell, especially when he just

walked off a 15 Foot (maybe more) fall without much of a problem. That action scene was okay, and him having to kill the dog was heart-rending on a few levels: You're not only killing off your only companion, but the last part of your family.

 

Really, the final straw was the

suicide

scene.

I honestly think there were a lot better ways to do that, and the ridiculousness of the vampires were really wearing thin. Finding and getting

saved by other humans was just... ugh. That ruined it. I was hoping to see him descend further and further into depression, insanity, etc after the dog's death, but the humans just killed any momentum that had. They completely lost the whole reason behind the title for a stupid fucking cop-out happy ending. Man, was I pissed (These things were climbing up vertical brick walls. You're telling me this "colony" was able to keep them out because they had some highway walls sitting around?! COME ON!) at the ending. Plus, the woman's character was so fucking 1-Dimensional it's not even funny. It just felt so tacked on, I can't believe they thought that was the way to go.

Man, from a promising start to an absolutely horrible ending. I don't think I've ever seen a movie change that fast and that drastically on me. *1/2 out of *****

 

Other things:

 

-

I kinda wish that they didn't show his family dying. I thought the scene just looked hokey (The whole vampires taking down the chopper) and I liked the unknown of him never really knowing what happened to his family.

- Even though the movie sucked, I thought Will Smith was still great in it. Credit to him as an actor, because doing a movie with almost no co-stars is damn hard. Kudos.

-

I still can't express how disappointed I am with the vampires being completely bestial. With all the hinting at them having some sort of intelligence, it sucked so hard to see them just completely ignore it in the end.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×