I Am Legend (2007)

Directed by: Francis Lawrence | 100 minutes | action, drama, horror, science fiction | Actors: Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Thomas J. Pilutik, Willow Smith, Darrell Foster, April Grace, Dash Mihok, Joanna Numata, Samuel Glen, James Michael McCauley, Marin Ireland, Pedro Mojica, Anthony C. Mazza, Steve Cirbus, Calista Hill, Gabriella Hill, Madeline Hill, Adhi Sharma, Tyree Michael Simpson, Blake Lange, Alexander DiPersia, Abraham Sparrow, Pat Fraley, Caitlin McHugh, Deborah Collins, Mike Patton

A genetically engineered measles virus that cures cancer turns out to have an unexpected side effect. Infected humans and animals turn into light-shy, murderous creatures. Most of humanity is infected by the virus that also spreads through the air. The small part that proves immune to infection falls prey to the bloodthirsty mutants who relentlessly hunt them. In 2012, it will be three years after the outbreak of the disaster. Brilliant scientist with the military rank of Colonel Robert Neville (Will Smith) is the only survivor in New York. Together with his dog Sam(antha), he hunts deer that run in herds through the streets, meticulously records where energy supplies are found in the city, searches for food and useful objects in the abandoned houses and keeps himself in the underground laboratory. in his well-secured home trying to find a cure. For three years he sent a daily radio message into the air with the message that he can be found at the South Street harbor every day when the sun is at its highest point. Survivors may need to know that he can provide food and safe shelter, but most importantly that they are not alone. Loneliness in his struggle for survival and the search for an effective anti-virus that can save humanity plays tricks on him so much that he has whole conversations with his dog and, for want of better, treats the mannequins in the music store as his friends. When his dog does not survive an attack by the mutants, he is at his wits’ end.

Will Smith is clearly more comfortable as an action hero than a scientist in a lab. Fortunately for him, most of the film is devoted to his hard struggle for life in a deserted New York. That battle is portrayed in an extremely fascinating way. According to a strict regime, he divides his days according to the alarm clock on his watch, so that he manages to continue his searches through the city and still be back at his house well before darkness falls. Smith imagines that he is not performing this like a machine by showing despair on his face and then setting himself in motion again in a disciplined manner. But the almost physical pain that the sound of the alarm clock evokes in him is clearly tangible.

The most horrifying aspect of the film is not so much the violence as the ubiquitous silence that is broken only when Neville plays music or when the mutants attack. This evokes a nasty tension that makes you feel Neville’s sickening fear and loneliness in a very penetrating way. That silence and Neville’s purposeful, disciplined action that counteracts all despair disrupts more than all the mutant hordes combined. Fortunately, there is also something to laugh about every now and then, such as seeing Neville running on a tire for his fitness and a shot later also his dog. And so there are more moments for that much-needed breath. It’s almost touching how hard Will Smith goes out of his way to mask the shortcomings for the role and he deserves credit for the unbridled effort he displays that indeed makes you willing to go beyond that, even if you remain fully empathetic with his character from . The result is an exciting, intriguing film with a slightly too sentimental ending, but that’s a matter of taste.