i am legend

when we finally got to see this movie, i was quite excited for it. i wasnt sure what to expect, the advertising champagne focused on will smiths character being alone in this desolate future. but i also knew a little bit about the story, so i knew it has its roots in a much more horror style genre.

the story begins with a plague wiping out almost everyone, and smith is the last man in new york. hes been on his own, with his dog, for almost three years when we meet up with him. we follow him around as he looks for food and his typically uneventful search for any survivors. this, by far, is the best part of the film. we see him trying to live a normal life, setting up mannequins in stores he frequents and talking to them as if they were real. we get a sense of what it must be like for him, trying to stave off insanity. the mood is slow and introspective. like the island part of castaway, it begins to become a thoughtful portrait of loneliness, and how one tries to adapt. there are even some good scares with what is out there. but about three Fourths of the way through the movie, it takes an unfortunate turn. the story falls off the rails and falls into all the cliches it had been so successful in avoiding up until that point.

over all, it was worth seeing for the first half. the quite moments and the story reveals along the way are pitch perfect, but when the plot turns, it turns hard.