I AM LEGEND

I always love a good sci-fi movie, and I Am Legend is no exception. And, of course, anything starring Will Smith is always intense and real. His own personality flows smoothly into any character he portrays.

At the beginning of the film, we watch a television news interview in which a doctor talks about having developed a vaccine from a virus that will cure cancer. In fact, it has cured cancer in 100% of the human trials. A boon to mankind, or not? It all goes downhill from there when the virus mutates, causing evolutionary de-development in humans, spread by both airborne and contact means, and destroys Manhattan Island through this development. Those who undergo the change become like wild, vicious beasts who are extremely sun-sensitive, become discolored and hairless, and even begin to prey on those citizens who, for some reason, are immune.

Robert Neville (Smith) is an Army research doctor who is the sole healthy survivor and who has chosen to remain in New York to conduct tests to see if he can find a cure for this virus. His core motivation is to save the world although he puts himself at high risk in doing so. A person like that would have sky-high life insurance rates, but his intentions are noble and self-sacrificing.

The action by Smith is great, of course. The CGI is a bit lacking, but it's still frightening enough to make you jump from time to time. I give high points for the "jump factor" in sci-fi, thriller, and mystery movies.

This 2007 film is rated PG-13 for the extreme sci-fi violence which occurs repeatedly at the hands of the "dark seekers" and Smith himself.