I Am Legend

Will Smith stars as the last man in New York City in this cross between a sci-fi drama and a horror film.

The Plot: (Spoilers)

In an attempt to create a cure for cancer using a genetically-engineered measles virus, Dr. Alice Krippen (Emma Thompson, uncredited) unleashed a plague in 2009 that three years later left Army virologist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Will Smith) as apparently the only human being alive in New York City. He survives by hunting dear with his German Shepherd Samantha, a sniper rifle and a Shelby GT500, in competition with escaped lions from the zoo.

Dr. Neville & Sam

In his home he has installed steel window shutters to protect him at night, which he closes before it gets dark. At night he dreams of the winter night around Christmas when the President ordered a quarantine of the city and he sent his wife and daughter upstate while he stayed behind to try and stop the spread of the virus. Dr. Neville maintains a sophisticated lab in his basement and the next day (September 5, 2012) he continues his ongoing research on what appear to be large hairless rats. One of his potential cures shows promise for human testing. Dr. Neville and Sam go about their daily routine: at a video store populated by mannequins Neville borrows one DVD at a time in alphabetical order, he and Sam search apartment buildings for supplies and they go to the South Street Seaport, where in an automated radio broadcast Neville tells anyone who may be listening that he will be there every day at noon.

Neville and Sam sleep in the tub

Sam spots a deer and chases it into a darkened building, to Neville’s concern. He cautiously goes in after Sam, discovering that the building is populated by what the Krippen Virus has turned humans into: ferocious, hairless creatures that die in sunlight.

A human infected with the Krippen Virus

Neville and Sam escape the building, and Neville sets a snare trap and captures one of the infected humans, a female, for testing, but the potential cure is fatal to humans. Neville undoes the effect of the serum and resuscitates and locks up the test subject. In his journal, he reveals it is day 1001. He is immune to both the airborne and contact forms of the virus. Canines are immune to only the airborne form.

Dr. Neville works on his test subject

One day, Neville is trapped by the infected humans using one of the mannequins from outside the video store as a lure and using a similar trap to the one he used to catch his test subject. He manages to cut himself loose but stabs his leg with his knife when he falls. As the sun sets he and Sam are attacked by infected dogs and Sam is infected and Neville has to put her down and bury her.

Now completely alone and distraught, Neville sets a trap for the infected humans at the seaport, where he uses his light-equipped SUV to run over as many as possible. The infected humans overwhelm him and nearly kill him, but a bright light drives them off and the dazed and injured Neville is rescued by a woman. In a vehicle in a moment of consciousness, she asks Neville where he lives and he gives her his address but says to wait until dawn. He again dreams of the night he sent his wife and daughter out of the city, reliving the moment their helicopter was struck by another one, killing them.

In the morning, Neville wakes up on his couch with Shrek playing on his TV. He hears someone in his kitchen and finds the mysterious woman and a young boy having breakfast. The woman introduces herself as Anna (Alice Braga) and says the boy is Ethan (Charlie Tahan). It takes Neville a little time to adjust to their presence but he comes around. Anna came by boat from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She was originally one of 5 people immune to the virus, but the others were killed by the infected humans, which she calls “dark seekers.” She and Ethan were traveling to a colony of survivors in Vermont when they heard Neville’s radio broadcast. They went to the seaport and waited for him. Anna wants Neville to come with them to Vermont; it is too late in the day to get to Vermont before dark but they could make it the following day. Neville doesn’t believe the colony actually exists and insists that he has to stay to try to find a cure for the virus.

Anna and Ethan

Neville goes back to work in his lab and Anna checks on him. He is using ice to lower his test subject’s body temperature in the desperate hope that it will make the cure effective. That night, Neville and Anna again argue about going to Vermont. Anna believes she is being led by God to Vermont, and her finding Neville is part of God’s plan. Neville doesn’t believe there is anyone else left and gives her the statistics: starting with a population of 6 billion, the Krippen Virus’s 90% kill rate left 5.4 billion dead, and with only 1% immunity there were only 12 million healthy humans; the remaining 588 million became “dark seekers” who fed on the healthy humans.

Dr. Neville gives Anna the numbers

Neville hears a noise outside and discovers that the dark seekers have found them. Anna had brought him home just before dawn because his injuries were severe, so they were able to follow them. Neville has set up some defenses which stop some of the dark seekers but there are too many of them and some of them get into the house.

The Dark Seeker Alpha Male outside Dr. Neville's home

Neville battles a dark seeker through his home and gets Anna and Ethan to his lab, where they trap themselves behind the lab’s Plexiglas divider with the sedated test subject. The dark seekers have them trapped and the alpha male (Dash Mihok) tries to break through the Plexiglas. Anna and Neville discover that the cure is having an effect on the test subject. Neville takes a sample of the test subject’s blood which now contains the cure and gives it to Anna and shows her and Ethan an old coal chute where they can hide until dawn. He takes out a hand grenade from a drawer and sacrifices himself to kill the dark seekers in the lab.

Here's Johnny!

Anna and Ethan travel to Vermont and find the colony of survivors. They hand over the blood sample that contains the cure.

Anna and Ethan find the colony

A voiceover by Anna reveals the date of the previous night was September 9, 2012 and that they now have hope to save the rest of humanity.

Aerial view of the colony shown during Anna's voiceover

My Review:

I Am Legend starts with an interesting premise. The visuals of the desolate New York City are spectacular, and Will Smith gives an excellent performance, easily carrying the film alone with just a dog to play off of. His interactions with mannequins at the video store effectively show how lonely he is, and his performance when Neville sees one of the mannequins far out of place and considers it might be alive is a high point of the film. The dark seekers are the film’s weak spot. Once they are seen, it is obvious that the film is going to devolve into a horror film, and the most of the lead-up to that is tedious, and the battle with the dark seekers just isn’t satisfying. The end of the film isn’t really satisfying either. Will Smith’s character is dead, and I really didn’t care about the others, maybe because they came into the film so late. I’m not sure how helpful the cure would be, as I don’t see how a small group of survivors in Vermont are going to distribute it. I also don’t see how a simple wall kept the dark seekers out of the colony, as the dark seekers have no problem climbing. And with the bridges in New York City destroyed, and early visuals implying the tunnels are flooded, how did Anna and Ethan even get into the city to find Neville?

I Am Legend features strong performances and starts with an interesting premise that make it worth checking out, but its flaws keep it from achieving its potential.