I Am Legend

Watched I Am Legend in the cinema last night. It’s another example of one of my favourite genres (i.e. apocalyptic and/or distopic futures) along the lines of 28 Days Later whereby a devastating plague has wiped out most of the human race and rendered the remainder inhuman in some way. It’s set in New York City in 2012 and tells the tale of a scientist who, for some reason, is immune to the plague and is attempting to find a cure.

Because it’s Hollywood, and not Danny Boyle with a DV Cam, the budget is quite a lot larger than 28 Days Later and so the sets and locations are more spectacular, creating an extremely eerie New York cityscape which was clearly abandoned very suddenly and in great panic. There are flashbacks to a back story, but they are mostly to do with the protagonist’s family rather than the disintegration of society.

As is typical with Hollywood, there’s a happy ending, but this does not mean it’s a bad film and if you love the genre as much as I do then you must go and see it. Same goes if you’re a Will Smith fan, he’s a very fine actor and this film is no exception.