I am Legend...finally saw it...

[Zora]

Now, see I disagree about Will Smith. I think he\'s done some good movies. Not all GREAT, but good.

I read somewhere that he and his agent looked up the formula for which movies were most successful (i.e. action with a little humor) and made sure to stick mostly to those at the beginning. Seems to have worked.

At the end of I Am Legend, I think the intelligence DID show, as the leader had them knocking out the lights, going up the building, etc. I got the feeling that they would normally have mindlessly just pounded away at ground level pointlessly against the fortifications Will\'s character built on.

Yes, the CGI wasn\'t the greatest. But by the time they get it REALLY right, they won\'t need actors.

 

[Legacy Account]

Of course they\'ll need actors - even CG animation uses actors.

CG will never replace traditional movie making.

 

[Yetie]

I liked it and thought that Will Smith did a good job, but how they introduced the new characters felt a bit awkward.

Also the \"leader\" of the infected was a really good tangant but as already said this sort of disolved into nothing in the end which was a real let down.

All in all though I enjoyed it and was entertained, I saw Charlie Wilson\'s War last week and really enjoyed it. Its got alot of heart and I was amazed by what he did (I have taken it with a pinch of salt as I don\'t have a clue how much is true).

 

[Avelorn]

Yeah the CGI was really terrible... didn\'t help the moive either.

Got to say I liked the start though... but it all just as you said dissolved into nothing. That is why I was so disappointed, the potential.

Read more about the novel, and I got to say I need to read that one. Seems great.

 

[supervike]

Sorry to dig this old chestnut up....


but I just saw an ALTERNATE ending on YOU TUBE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMqBNOM9wFw&NR=1


While my opinions are still unchanged about the movie as a whole, this ending made so much more sense to where the movie was taking the \'monsters\'.

I\'d still prefer to have Dr. Smith\'s character killed off though...just because it would have been better to justify the \'legend\' status. He obviously made some sort of breakthrough in curing the infected, but it needed more work.

His dying, and the other two survivors moving onto the \'survivor camp\' would have been the best ending.

 

[uberdark]

i liked this ending so much more than the original. it helps bring it to where they brought the vampires. this is different from the book but still works better on its own.

 

[Ebonbuddha]

I actually liked the movie. I agree with Supervike. It was great seeing how he survived alone. I always wonder what it would be like to be in that situation. I would have definitely made the house more of a fortress.

The ending was cool. I felt sorry for him. I hated to see him die. But it was necessary. I don’t like the alternate ending. I like that he died for what he believed in. It gave him more. Legend status or whatever, he had it.

I will have to check out the graphic novel. It is next on my list of books to buy.

To sell Will Smith short is really unfair though. He has done some really good movies over his career.

Where the Day Takes You

Six Degrees of Separation

Bad Boys

Ali

The Pursuit of Happyness

Even Hitch was good.. It’s a nice date movie. Sorry. You can’t put down the Fresh Prince either. They were both insanely popular.

 

[supervike]

Absolutely...Will Smith is a very good actor. I don\'t blame him for terrible movies, he is usually good in everything.

 

[Ritual]

I\'m not saying he\'s bad (it was a tongue-in-cheek comment I did back on page one), but saying he\'s not bad doesn\'t mean he\'s great. He\'s an ok actor! I haven\'t seen any film in which he sucks, but I haven\'t seen anything that fills me with awe either.

I\'ve seen this film now, since I got the opportunity to see it for free. It is not a good film. But, the alternative ending was even worse. I\'m glad, at least, they didn\'t end the film that way, but since the film sucked anyway, maybe it\'s not a big deal either way. The beginning of the film was promising, although I got bad vibes from the start due to the crappy CG animals.

No, stick to \"28 days/weeks later\" and you\'ll be much happier for it!

 

[supervike]

The movie falls into a \'might rent\' category for me.

And, like I say, it didn\'t change my overall opinion, but the Alternate ending at least payed attention to where the story was going. They were trying like hell in that movie to show us that there was a semblance of intelligence still left, and although the creatures (which I agree where poorly designed CGI) had devolved into beasts, they weren\'t just insane.

And again...had they kept this Alt. Ending, and STILL killed off Smith\'s character, it would have made much more sense, overall.

But, they didn\'t...had they done so, it may have been a \'must rent\' possiblity...but no higher!

28 Days/Weeks Later...both MUST RENT (and possibly \'might buy\' fare!)

 

[MPJ]

It could have been better to be sure but it did have it\'s moments and carried the solitude thing quite well. While technically not a zombie flick it certainly felt like a zombie flick and \'zombie\' is by far my favorite sub-genre of horror.

I would have to put Will Smith above Jim Carrey and whatshisface also mentioned here but I do like whatshisfaces films quite a bit (I\'m having a mental block on his name and don\'t feel like scrolling to find it).

 

[Avelorn]

I think the alternate ending was better. Definately. However they could have killed off Will Smith as well. Even better ending would have been if they could show afterwards that the vampires/zombies focus to retrieve her but that they were fundamentally misunderstood. And that he might see and understand what he had done before he died.

But I liked the fact that they didn\'t find the village etc.

 

[RobberBaron]

I think the alternate ending was much truer to the original concept of the story about Neville being the true freak in this new society. The theatrical ending was just to make a hollywoodized ending to give the film a feeling of hope and optimism. I would have preferred an ending in line with the book where they captured Neville/Will Smith and publicly executed him while taunting him as a freak and that would be end of the human race, but oh well.

 

[veggiemanuk]

Same feelings here for this one, Good film let down by its ending, just like so many potentialy great movies, Contact anyone?

From what I know there are another two films in the pipeline and I think that is why they chose this ending even if it was dire.

As for the creatures inteligence, it\'s a shame they didnt use it more towards the end but what would be the point? I think the intelligence will come into it more in the next film, hopfuly.

As for Will Smiths acting, at least he is\'nt as bad as Nicholas Cage and Richard Gere, both of these actors are abismal and yet they still find work.

Of all the films that I have seen with him in I cant think of one that was as bad as Me Myselfe and Irene or any of the other stupid films with Carey in. Each to their own I suppose.

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Ebonbuddha
I actually liked the movie. I agree with Supervike. It was great seeing how he survived alone. I always wonder what it would be like to be in that situation. I would have definitely made the house more of a fortress.

The ending was cool. I felt sorry for him. I hated to see him die. But it was necessary. I don’t like the alternate ending. I like that he died for what he believed in. It gave him more. Legend status or whatever, he had it.

i agree that he had to die but to have him kill himself in the way he did was a bit pointless imo. i just think they could have killed him off in a more purposeful way

 

[Multifracture]

You guys are gonna tear me apart but this film should not have been called \"I am Legend\" as that would suggest it had something to do with the amazing book this film should have been called \"I am Will Smith and this is my dog\" i thought there were some nice sequences (chasing the dog through the building then finding a load of \"vampires\" with their backs to him for example) but how strong does a human cranium need to be in order to survive smashing through impact resistant glass?

I think if it had been heralded under a different banner to I am Legend i might have expected something different but otherwise disappointing

 

[Ebonbuddha]

lol lol lol I love it!

Originally posted by Multifracture
You guys are gonna tear me apart but this film should not have been called \"I am Legend\" as that would suggest it had something to do with the amazing book this film should have been called \"I am Will Smith and this is my dog\"

 

[Sand Rat]

Originally posted by Multifracture
You guys are gonna tear me apart but this film should not have been called \"I am Legend\" as that would suggest it had something to do with the amazing book this film should have been called \"I am Will Smith and this is my dog\" i thought there were some nice sequences (chasing the dog through the building then finding a load of \"vampires\" with their backs to him for example) but how strong does a human cranium need to be in order to survive smashing through impact resistant glass?

I think if it had been heralded under a different banner to I am Legend i might have expected something different but otherwise disappointing

Perhaps they should have called it \"The Last Man on Earth\" or \"The Omega Man?

 

[Multifracture]

Hey at least they had the right idea by renaming them! LoL i loved I am Legend as a novel i thought it was moving and eery without being scary or gory (i finished it in one night it got me so hooked) Everything good from the book was left out of the film i didnt feel like Will Smith was isolated i felt like he was on a giant film set. As i said i prefer the book and i think that\'s probably going to be the way with every book to film even though there are some gems (Jurassic Park is still my main example of what can get left out but still make a good film)

 

[RobberBaron]

Multifracture, you may want to check out the original movie The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price. The screenplay was actually co-written by Richard Matheson, which is still the most faithful to the book.