I Am Legend

[Jason Harris 31]

I was curious what others thought about the movie.

I thought it was quite well made, but I found myself unsatisfied at the ending. However, as I thought about it, I realized the ending made sense with how it evolved, but it's tough to invest nearly 90 minutes with one character and not have his struggles be rewarded. Of course, maybe the ending is true to the book, and it did keep in character with his attempts to save humanity. Still, let's just say the ending hurt.

On to other matters. There were a couple of lapses of reason. The trap at the museum made no sense. The Dark Seekers had been presented as mindless, so being smart enough to rig the cabling, as well as knowing that Freddie was the particular mannequin to use, was silly. Hell, if they were that smart, Big Willy Style's home should have been overrun a couple of year's earlier.

The rescue at the pier made little sense also, since it appeared there were too many DS and they had too much strength to be overrun by Anna.

All that aside, the movie was well made.

[mack 44]

The darkseekers never found Neville's home because he'd never come home in the dark before until the lady rescued him. He was always sure to be home well before dusk, save for the time he was caught in the trap and then later when he was rescued.

I think they had no reasoning/humanity left in them, but they had also probably seen Neville rig up countless traps that have captured their kind before and finally turned that against him.

My only problem is the talks that if this movie did well (which it did, making an absolute killing) then there would be a sequel greenlit. Now maybe it could be a prequel, showing exactly how it all came to be but if it's an actual sequel all I can think of is how bad it'd be.

[Arizona17 0]

It was one of the worst endings of all everything else was good until the ending, he didn't have to kill himself did he? He could have just brought out some heavy weapons and blown them to bits that would have been great.

[mack 44]

What heavy weapons could he have had? That was their last shot and he took it. As for killing himself, the rumour I heard about a sequel would be that there was a hole in the glass he could have shoved the grenade thru and then ducked and survived the blast. I already forgot, but I thought the alpha male made it thru the glass and that's when the grenade went off. Either way, a sequel seems very unnecessary.

[tjl_48 0]

I liked the movie too but hated the ending. Him having to kill his dog was really sad. The only friend you have around for like 3 years and then having to kill it with your bare hands. Brutal.

[Jason Harris 31]

The darkseekers never found Neville's home because he'd never come home in the dark before until the lady rescued him. He was always sure to be home well before dusk, save for the time he was caught in the trap and then later when he was rescued.

I think they had no reasoning/humanity left in them, but they had also probably seen Neville rig up countless traps that have captured their kind before and finally turned that against him.

The way the museum scene was set up, Neville was hunted by that particular darkseeker, which seemed to run counter to the way they had been presented as mindless. The darkseeker set up a trap with a specific mannequin, although let's say he got lucky with the mannequin. In any event, if they had that level of thinking, it would seem they could have tracked Neville earlier, even if Neville was returning home during daylight.

I understand this is trivial and I don't mean to detract from the movie, but it runs counter to the way the darkseekers had been portrayed. (Besides the fact that about fifty darkseekers should have joined the hounds as soon as the sun disappeared.)

I agree about a sequel. What made this a powerful film is one man thinking he is the last hope to bring humanity back. If they tried to make a sequel, I don't see how they could capture that emotion.

I already forgot, but I thought the alpha male made it thru the glass and that's when the grenade went off.

Yes, Neville dove into the glass with the grenade when it was apparent the alpha male would finally make it through.

It was one of the worst endings of all everything else was good until the ending, he didn't have to kill himself did he? He could have just brought out some heavy weapons and blown them to bits that would have been great.

Although it made sense for him to protect Anna with the serum, as a viewer I'd like to see the only character we followed for the first ninety minutes have a chance to be rewarded for trying to save humanity. Maybe survive an all-night siege. Or hit the road and have to fight something along the way. It just hurt to have Neville not make it, although it was true to his character.

[mack 44]

I didn't really see the darkseekers as mindless per se, but rather that they had lost all humanity. I had thought they had become Pavlovian with possibly seeing how Neville operated, going to the store daily and talking to the "customers" at the video store so they may have just pieced that together about picking one that he "knew." As for tracking him home, I think he was far away from any presumed hives they may have had (noted by his "stumbled upon a hive" recording) and then the vinegar masked whatever scent they may have been able to pick up on.

I still don't get the circle jerk seen in the hive though, that was the "wtf" moment for me.

Edit: Other things that cemented them never really being mindless (to me at least) were how they went straight for the lights during the house raid and then the one guy chewing thru the roof like a termite to make it easy for them to come thru. Also how they sent waves instead of one huge rush on the house, like Neville anticipated. The one thing I noticed was when he put that kid to bed you could see that window didn't have a shutter on it and then I knew it was bad juju.

[Jason Harris 31]

You're probably right that they weren't completely mindless. It seemed they had been presented that way, but you bring up some points where they did act with strategy.

[mack 44]

I think that's the misconception people had along with how they thought they were just zombies based on looks and such. In the book they're crafty and very much the same as humans except for the fact they're vampires.

[DCott 0]

Couldn't he have hopped in with Anna and Ethan, cracked the door, and thrown out the 'nade when they broke through? He would have had time to shut the door before it went off.

I also don't quite get the cure part. First they go downstairs and that darkseeker is starting to look human again. Fine, but how does that lead to the cure being in his blood, is that what he injected her with? I must have missed something.

Also, when he says "The cure is in OUR blood" why did he draw his own blood to give to Anna. What is different about his blood compared to hers and Ethan's?

[Hazard14 0]

i heard that they paid 40 million to shut down the brooklyn bridge and for the computerized animation for that 4 second scene where it explodes

[Karly14 21]

I liked the movie, but i had an issue with the appearance of the dark seekers. They looked to cgi for my liking, I think they could have made them look a lot better by just using real actors with makeup.

[mack 44]

Couldn't he have hopped in with Anna and Ethan, cracked the door, and thrown out the 'nade when they broke through? He would have had time to shut the door before it went off.

I also don't quite get the cure part. First they go downstairs and that darkseeker is starting to look human again. Fine, but how does that lead to the cure being in his blood, is that what he injected her with? I must have missed something.

Also, when he says "The cure is in OUR blood" why did he draw his own blood to give to Anna. What is different about his blood compared to hers and Ethan's?

I don't think he would have fit in there with the boy and lady. It seemed to me just an old fireplace or something of the sort.

The cure was in his blood because he (and I forget what percentage of people) were immune to the k-virus. He also said "the cure is in her blood" referring to the darkseeker that had started to revert back to something human. Being immune is one thing, but getting that to work in an antidote is another. What gets me is that fine, the cure's in the blood but he did other things like have her in ice to keep her cool that obviously wouldn't have been passed on thru the message.

[Jason Harris 31]

I also don't quite get the cure part. First they go downstairs and that darkseeker is starting to look human again. Fine, but how does that lead to the cure being in his blood, is that what he injected her with? I must have missed something.

Also, when he says "The cure is in OUR blood" why did he draw his own blood to give to Anna. What is different about his blood compared to hers and Ethan's?

I thought he pulled the blood from the darkseeker at the end.

What gets me is that fine, the cure's in the blood but he did other things like have her in ice to keep her cool that obviously wouldn't have been passed on thru the message.

He had told Anna that the ice was keeping her stabilized.

Besides, he probably told her more in the scene they didn't show, when the two of them hooked up for the first time in three years, but the producers had to keep it to an R rating.....

[mack 44]

He did pull it from the darkseeker, so that someone could hopefully replicate the cure.

Anna did see that she was kept on ice but there has to be more too it than that and she'd only seen the patient for a couple minutes and Neville's video diary was gone. Hopefully the compound had a virologist there.

[Jason Harris 31]

Hey, at $76.5 million in first weekend sales, you know there was a virologist at the compound.....

[TheBert 0]

The movie ending treated Neville much better than the book's did. But we've already figured that this ending makes it easier to produce a sequel/prequel.

[Jason Harris 31]

I tried to find some information on the movie, since I never read the book. One guy who had read the book filled in some good back information:

"In the book the virus result in essentially vampires, however some of them are intelligent and are not always obviously infected. They organize to create a new society. In their eyes, Nevil is the enemy because he kills vampires and also seeks a cure. He meets and falls in love with a women but he is not sure if she is infected or not. In the end she turns out to be one of them and betrays him. The title come from the fact that once vampires where a legend in human history and now Nevil will be no more than a legend in the new culture of vampires history....Another thing... I can't believe they threw out one of the most chilling parts of the original story. His wife slowly develops the illness which has flu like symptoms. He cares for her and tries to nurse her back to health but she slowly wastes away. Eventually she goes blind and then dies in his arms. He cannot bring himself to mutilate her body, which is necessary to keep her from becoming one of them, so he takes her out and buries her. Several days later her wasted corpse comes scratching at his door with her wispery voise calling his name pleading for him to let her in. It's absolutly chilling! In the movie she dies in a helicopter accident. LAME!"

Given the author didn't portray the darkseekers as mindless, I now understand what I had previously thought were lapses of logic.

[bobovski 1]

The one thing I noticed was when he put that kid to bed you could see that window didn't have a shutter on it and then I knew it was bad juju.

Totally. I wanted to scream at him when I saw that, "Don't let the kid stay in *that* room!"

[mrusse01 0]

I thought the movie went downhill from the moment the dog died.

When he goes on the rampage and is saved at the last second by Anna...I mean that was ridiculous. He is on the island for what...3 years, broadcasting his message every day, he is juuuust about to be killed and someone finally shows up and saves him against all odds? That's stupid.

[mack 44]

I agree the timing is convenient but in their defence, they had been there all day waiting for Neville at the port.

[Patrick67 1]

I agree on the "movie went downhil after the dog chock" comment...

Btw I thought it was really weird when he looks for his dog that ran into the building, and stumbles apon all those dark seekers with their backs turned to him (guessing that's the scene you mentioned in a previous post Mack)... Absolutely the most chilling moment in the movie for me.

But then he cuts the light... and nothing happens in the beginning, he's even trying to tip-toe away??? wtf. I figuered he would cut the light, wait 2 secs then turn it back on to catch them off guard when they were coming out him.

Still a ok scene, but kinda weird IMO.

Farvourite scene was probably the one after where he sets up the trap, and is staring directly at the alfa-male afterwards.

[mack 44]

What do you mean about catching them off guard? If you're wondering why he didn't attack them in their little hive it's because he would have been dead basically instantly. He was just trying to GTFO as soon as possible, even if it meant losing Sam.

[mrusse01 0]

yeah but there was never any explanation as to why they didn't instantly attack him then, i'm guessing they must have been 'sleeping' or something like that...at the time it was a pretty cool scene though.

I guess I should watch it again, we had a downloaded copy and half way through the sounds got all F'd up, you know how the sound gets slightly behind the video sometimes? Friggin' pissed me off and probably clouded my judgement of the movie.

[hellkitty 0]

I'm glad i downloaded the movie. I thought it was a waste of time and the movie was way to quick. It didn't explain anything and the ending was so lame also.