I Am Legend - ** out of ****

Survival horror is a genre that almost writes itself. You have the main character, you present the creatures/zombies/insects, you have some suspense where the main character must go into an area where s/he shouldn't be, you kill off some of the most lovable characters, and you have stupid choices. We automatically connect with the main character because s/he's the only one we can rely on, and it's very easy to present a motif of divine intervention/judgment/something spiritual. You create the enemy first, then make some scary scenes, decide on an ending, and at that point you craft the characters.

"I Am Legend" has every single element in the formula and doesn't take an extra step with them. It relies solely on Will Smith's performance, and it's one that is actually very good for the genre. We believe him, and we truly feel for his deteriorating mental state. There are a few too many lapses in logic, some small (Why does he bother wearing an apron while cooking if he thinks he's the only person alive?), and some considerably larger (you know the rules, so why would you just happen to violate those rules at the same exact time as when you must rescue another human? I believe that's a Roger Ebert movie rule...).

The scene I liked best was when Will Smith (I don't remember the character's name, and for the first half of the movie, it's really not important; he is the only human) finally reconnects with humans. I won't reveal how, but you might be able to guess the circumstances. He has spent virtually the entire first half of the movie only interacting with his Dog (Sam...yes, I remembered his name. Will Smith calls it several times) and mannequins (don't remember their names), so by logic, we have to assume that he's gonna go crazy. In most other survival horror films, the main character interacts with people as if nothing had ever happened, but here, the script finds an extra scene of suspense. It works so much better than Will going through a dark hallway with only a flashlight until RAAAHHHRRRR! Something must jump out and start screaming!

I'm probably being a bully here, but I can't help myself. "The Descent" was 1/3 of a survival horror film, but every second of it worked in my eyes. It worked because the actors playing the creatures were, well, actors. Here, they're computer-generated creations. They look fake, and because of that, they're immediately less scary. Another inevitable cliche is something found in James Bond movies. Despite how close something is to the guy with the automatic weapon, not a single shot will hit its target. In the words of Mystery Science Theater 3000, "Oh no, they set their phazers to 'miss'!"

"The Descent" also had characters we cared about and was bold enough to explore three levels of horror instead of just one. The isolation is pretty much just a character trait, and I never felt that he was a man trapped in a large city. He should have looked like the sole ant on a road.

I wish the script would have given Will Smith more room to improvise. He's such a gifted actor and can think on his feet, but unfortunately, here he's constricted to the script. There was a lot of room present for this, but if there was improvisation present, I didn't notice it. Maybe that was the point, but it just gives me ammunition to tear the movie apart.

I hate picking on movies, but these were just some of the areas where I thought "I Am Legend" failed. Too many (bad) special effects, too much formula, and too little originality. However, I guess that if you saw the previews and were interested, then this is something you'd find enjoyable. For those of us who want more bang for our buck, check out "The Descent."

Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Action and Violence.
Buy it here.