Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Preface

For the longest time I have wanted to make a list of my favorite movies in my favorite genre of movies, which is easily the Post-Apocalypse genre.  My approach for this list is going to be much different than my lists for Top SNES and Playstation games.  For this list I will be reviewing my top ten Post-Apocalypse one at a time in descending order starting with number ten moving up to number one.

Also to note I eliminate a lot of movies from this genre for consideration by simply holding the genre to the purist meaning of its title.  My first rule for this Top Ten list is that they have to be actual movies, not mini-series or television shows, which eliminates some excellent mini-series like The Stand and series The Walking Dead.  My next rule for this Top Ten Post-Apocalypse Movies, and my biggest pet peeve about most Post-Apocalypse lists, is that the majority of the movie that I list must occur AFTER the apocalypse.   By my definition that removes movies where the apocalypse is actually occurring, such as disaster porn like 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow, as well as any movie that shows civilization slowly dying like Children of Men and Soylent Green.  So in short my definition of a Post-Apocalyptic movie is one that happens after at least half of the worlds’ population has died off and the survivors are now dealing with life after civilization that we know it has broken down.

Review of Top Post-Apocalyptic Movie #5: I Am Legend
 
It was only a matter of time until an adaptation of the 1954 novel I Am Legend appeared on my Top Ten Post- Apocalyptic movies list.  After all there are three of them, first there was The Last Man on Earth in 1964, and then The Omega Man in 1971, and finally the 2007 I Am Legend, and each one is an iconic representation of the entire genre.  Instead of reviewing multiple renditions of essentially the same tale (because originally more than one made the list) I picked the one that I feel has the most viewing appeal to a modern day audience, which is the most current rendition I Am Legend from 2007 starring Will Smith.
 
The basic premise behind all three movies is that we follow Dr. Robert Nevell (Robert Morgan in The Last Man on Earth) after a plague has wiped out humanity.  What is left of humanity appears to be just Robert and the freakish abominations that transformed a segment of humanity.  In each movie the cause is different and the freakish abominations are different, but in each case it is left to Dr. Robert Nevell to use his scientific knowledge to cure the illness and save humanity.

Each movie has its own particulars about the story, but now I have to refine it down to simply the 2007 I Am Legend.  Will Smith plays Dr. Robert Neville the lone survivor in New York City, ground zero of the outbreak.  In this rendition the plague started out as an engineered version of the measles virus that was created to cure cancer.  Shortly after the medical miracle the altered virus starts mutating and soon starts killing people in mass and leaps from being contagious from touch to being an airborn contagion.  There is a small percentile of people who are naturally immune to the virus, which Dr. Neville is, and there is a larger percentile that the virus turned them into deranged rabid nightwalkers who have extreme photosensitivity while over ninety five percentile of people simply died from the virus.   These nightwalkers aggressively hunt down any and every survivor that remains.

The movie starts out simply following Robert as he goes about his business during the day. It begins with him hunting deer that are making New York City their new home as nature reclaims the streets and grass is starting to grow through the streets.  Daily activities include hunting, talking to mannequins at the video store, foraging through houses for food, hanging out on the pier seeing if anyone will answer his radio broadcast, and experimenting on lab rats for a cure.  As the sun goes down Robert must return to his hidden bunker of a home which he has outfitted with generators for power and steel curtains as he listens to the screams of the madness of the outside world at night.

Eventually one day while waiting at the pier a deer grabs Samantha’s attention and she chases it into a dark bank and Robert pursues, which is where we are introduced to Roberts justified fear of the dark.  After narrowly escaping a pack of infected Robert finds it to be an ideal time to set a trap and capture a human test subject.  He succeeds in capturing a test subject but in so doing angers a large and powerful Alpha Male of sorts, which will become an increasing threat from there on.

Smith carries the acting load for nearly the entire movie, with the exception that he shares his life with Kona and Abbey the two dogs who play his dog Samantha a three year old German Shepard.  For me the addition of the prominent role of Samantha changes and improves the movie drastically over its previous counterparts.  Being an animal lover myself the story that unfurls on screen carries more than simply a tale of survival after the apocalypse but also an endearing story of companionship between a man and his dog.  This relationship is truly the driving force of this movie and heightens all of the emotions involved.  Simple daily acts such as talking to Samantha about their food and giving her a bath builds such a strong connection between the two.

If it were not for the established connection between Robert and Samantha scenes such as when he is trying to find Samantha in that building would have no impact, on one hand you can feel the complete terror that Robert is in as he searches.  He desperately wants to leave and even says that ‘Sam I’ve got to leave now’ while nearly in tears, but he is unable to leave his last true friend on earth and he pushes on.  If it were not for Samantha I Am Legend wouldn’t have one of the most heart wrenching movie segments I have ever seen.  Even though I know what is going to happen it has me fighting back tears every single time I watch it, and my wife simply has to leave the room for a while because she can’t watch it at all.

Will Smith for his part pulls off the role quiet well.  The emotions and drive are done very well, with plenty of super close-ups just in case we had a chance to miss his performance.  I think he does an excellent job, however there is still part of me that sees the Fresh Prince of Bel Air being dressed up like a Colonel in the Army or as a scientist in a lab coat.  There is still that disconnect, that this young attractive man can’t possibly be a trained soldier/scientific genius.  If Will Smith were ten years older at the time of this filming I doubt this disconnect would happen, but it did for me during several scenes early in the film.  I don’t think there is anything Will Smith could have done to prevent that disconnect from happening, but it is still there.

Overall I Am Legend turns out to be a tremendous story about a boy and his dog, as well as some other stuff about dealing with everybody else you ever loved dying.  It features lots of beautiful scenes of New York City accompanied by nothing but the sounds of nature surrounding it.  I Am Legend is easily one of the most widely appealing movie on my list, however there are segments that will rip your heart out and leave you blubbering like a baby. But then again I never did say watching the movies on my list was going to be an easy experience.



Other Reviews In My Top Ten Post-Apocalyptic Movies List

Number Ten
Number Nine
Number Eight
Number Seven
Number Six
Number Four 
Number Three
Number Two
Number One

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older