I Am Legend stars Will Smith (LTC Robert Neville), Alice Braga (Anna), and Charlie Tahan (Ethan). Francis Lawrence directed. This film marks the debut of Willow Smith as an actress. Never, ever use a virus to cure anything.
The first few minutes of the movie are all there is to Act I, we get Emma Thompson’s uncredited character talking about curing cancer; then we get three years later and someone running a Mustang through the very overgrown and deserted streets of a city. If we are to look at it like a book, it’s more of a prologue. Right about here is where we get the first flash back and part of the story behind why the streets of New York are deserted. The second turning point is well into Act II when Sam gets bitten by the infected dogs and Robert has to kill her. He breaks and finally loses himself. He goes on a vengeance fueled rampage killing the infected. That’s about where we have the next turning point. He’s rescued by another survivor. Act III begins here. Anna talks about God’s plan and Robert hears the infected coming. Robert realizes that Anna is indeed the one that is meant to be the courier of the cure. The climax is reached here. He ends up blowing himself up as well as his lab to give Anna and Ethan the chance to live. Anna and Ethan do make it to the colony of survivors in Vermont. Some of the best shots in the movie are the medium shots of the action. It gives a feel of actually being there and the immediate sense of urgency. All of the shots are spectacular. The over the shoulder shot when Robert and Sam are hunting the deer was great. Gives good perspective of how it feels to hunt. The long shot of Robert pulling up to his house which is actually several yards away was another good shot. The low camera angles when Robert is moving around the house make it seem to be from a child’s view, which works. I think the low angles also add more of a dramatic element. The lighting in the lab was excellent. There was a lot of directional lighting in the interior scenes. In the videos store we get a shot that includes Robert but he’s not the focus of the shot. The mannequin to his left is the object of the shot. A majority of the transitions are cuts. The one exception, Robert loses consciousness while hanging upside down. The scene fades out, the next fades in and it’s gone from day to almost dusk. The scoring was great as well. The effects were outstanding, especially when the infected grabbed onto Robert and followed him out of the window. The beating the head on the concrete was excellent. They used people for the infected yet, there are just some things we can’t ask actors to do. I don’t think it could have been done any better. The costuming was excellent. The infected were appropriately grubby. Good consistency with Robert’s clothes from scene to scene. Even though this was released in 2007, the effects are still believable.
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AuthorCollege graduate, Army vet, single mom, Husky mom, Movie lover, writer Archives
August 2022
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