01-01-2008, 11:14 AM
Re Will Smith's take on I AM LEGEND, I don’t recall seeing a film fall apart as quickly and completely as this one. I’ve been a sucker for “last man on earth” stories ever since I saw THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL on TV in the early 1960s. In the latest I AM LEGEND, I was drawn in by the outstanding set design and special effects in the early scenes, but once the Brazilian mama turns up with kid in tow, I AM LEGEND instantly devolves into absurd garbage. I was even willing to forgive the so-so CGI monsters, but then the flaws in logic and character motivation pile up neck-deep. Why is it so vital that the serum be delivered to the survivors’ commune in “Vermont” (actually New Jersey) if the survivors are already immune to the “cancer cure virus” that wiped out most of humanity? Are these folks going to track down the millions of “zompires” and inject them with the serum and make them human again? If so, then this intent is not stated by Robert Neville or any other character. Will Smith demonstrates that he is a fine actor in such key scenes as the mercy-killing of the beloved dog Sam. Smith also conveys Neville’s incipient madness quite convincingly in the scene with the record store mannequin, but it appears that the star’s enormous popularity gave him the clout to rewrite the script to such a degree that he sabotaged the second half of the picture in oh so many ways, the worst offense being the imposition of an unconvincing and abrupt “feelgood” ending more suitable to a typical Will Smith vehicle, but totally at variance with the true meaning and spirit of the original story. (THE MIST had a wonderfully downbeat climax, because Frank Darabont is a filmmaker of great integrity. I’m amazed that his preferred ending wasn’t test-screened out.)
By contrast, 1964's THE LAST MAN ON EARTH remains the best screen adaptation of Richard Matheson's landmark novel I AM LEGEND. I’m enjoying every second of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH to the fullest on DVD. How could this film have been dismissed as junk (disowned even by Matheson) when it is so obviously a good, solid, well-scripted and -acted picture? So what if the Italian locations don’t look like the good ole USA? Is that reason enough to trash THE LAST MAN ON EARTH? Critics always pan the dubbing, but it is excellent so far. Dr. Robert Morgan has to go down as one of Vincent Price’s greatest performances, as this legendary actor is given a rare opportunity to convey sadness and vulnerability... and he pulls it off magnificently. So these past 44 years, Price too has come in for a great deal of undeserved opprobrium from film critics and film historians, who just parrot the same inane claptrap that came before.
The new generation of remake-happy Hollywood filmmakers have more money than they know what to do with, but they don’t know how to tell stories. Scripts are like afterthoughts or are focus-grouped into a "let's please everybody" brand of incomprehensibility.
By contrast, 1964's THE LAST MAN ON EARTH remains the best screen adaptation of Richard Matheson's landmark novel I AM LEGEND. I’m enjoying every second of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH to the fullest on DVD. How could this film have been dismissed as junk (disowned even by Matheson) when it is so obviously a good, solid, well-scripted and -acted picture? So what if the Italian locations don’t look like the good ole USA? Is that reason enough to trash THE LAST MAN ON EARTH? Critics always pan the dubbing, but it is excellent so far. Dr. Robert Morgan has to go down as one of Vincent Price’s greatest performances, as this legendary actor is given a rare opportunity to convey sadness and vulnerability... and he pulls it off magnificently. So these past 44 years, Price too has come in for a great deal of undeserved opprobrium from film critics and film historians, who just parrot the same inane claptrap that came before.
The new generation of remake-happy Hollywood filmmakers have more money than they know what to do with, but they don’t know how to tell stories. Scripts are like afterthoughts or are focus-grouped into a "let's please everybody" brand of incomprehensibility.