Wednesday, April 02, 2008

I Am Legend

Just a few words.

Many of you have already seen this (584 million worldwide) so I may be preaching to the choir. But I am not writing for those of you who obviously would have been attracted to something like a Will Smith action apocalypse zombie movie. You know who you are.

I am writing to those of you who would never consider seeing a movie like this based on the seven to ten word blurb that is used to market a movie like this in 110 countries around the world.

THIS MOVIE IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.

What it is, is an intriguing character study of a man's reaction to isolation. What it also is - an amazing performance by a leading man who just seems to get better with age, and like Pursuit of Happyness, one that is not a simple extension of his prior, enjoyable but less impressive work. Will Smith is amazing in this movie, playing a role that you've never seen him play. There are two moments of emotional performance that are just classic (legend?) - I wont mention them so as not to spoil them, and you'll know them when you see them.

There isn't a lot of blood (very little actually), but there is a lot of story telling, and a lot of surprises, and pathos, and emotion.

See it. It really has something for everyone, and is one of few recent blockbusters (Ratatouille, being another) that really deserves that big an audience.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I love (LOVE!) Will Smith but had no (NO!) interest in seeing "I Am Legend" because, well, it's just not my type of story. I'll have to rethink that now. Thanks.

Julie O'Hora said...

I really enjoyed I AM LEGEND. Will's performance was stellar and the production design was tops. Think I'd have preferred the alternate ending, though.

RATATOUILLE didn't do it for me. Not sure why -- I know a lot of people loved it.

Anonymous said...

Just watched it today. Loved it. Of course, I cried... twice. Excellent film. Thanks for the push.