I AM LEGEND (article)
This will sound familiar. Some time in the future there is a virus that turns people into vampires. In Septemberwe talked about the horror film 28 Weeks Later, in which that was the premise. Here, we are talking about a sci-fi film in which there is a virus that turns people into vampires.
What's the difference? In 28 Weeks Later the virus is a bio-disaster in London requiring a military solution. In I Am Legend, the virus is part of a military weapon that has destroyed the world, making one scientist the last man on earth.
In fact, the writer of the 2002 film 28 Days Later says he took ideas for his script from the novel, I Am Legend. The film Night of the Living Dead (1968) also took its inspiration from that novel, and most zombie movies since then have been inspired in turn by Night of the Living Dead, so the plot line has a long history we've all heard before. But the last man left on earth in this version is Will Smith.
FILM FAVOURITE
Everybody loves Will Smith. He seems to be an easy-going, generally nice guy on-screen and off. He first starred on TV as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, establishing a charming and funny character that attracted audiences across age, race and gender lines, and for which he is still famous. He had a short music career as "The Fresh Prince" too. Then his humour made films like Independence Day and Men in Black huge box-office hits. More recently he was the sympathetic hero of Pursuit of Happyness, based on a true and heart-warming story. He co-starred with his real-life son in this more serious role and was rewarded with his second nomination for an Oscar. His first nomination was for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali in Ali. Smith has said his one regret in the movie business was turning down the (Keanu Reeves) role of Neo in The Matrix in favour of Wild, Wild West, which was a big mistake.
In fact, when it comes to I Am Legend, sci-fi fans are suspicious about Will Smith being Robert Neville, because of his popularity. They worry that the film will not be true to the book (purists also disapproved of the Smith film of the Asimov classic, I, Robot), and that Will Smith will be his funny, good-guy character, rather than the dark hero of the original story.
SCIENCE-FICTION STORY
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson (who also wrote The Incredible Shrinking Man), was published in 1954 and pictured a future in the years 1976-79. The story is about the individual isolated in a hostile world, trying to survive. Stephen King says it was this book that taught him that "horror could appear in the suburbs, on the street, or even in the house next door" and helped him write Salem's Lot. I Am Legend became a science-fiction classic and has already been made into two films, The Last Man on Earth (1964, starring Vincent Price) and The Omega Man (1971, a very bad film starring Charlton Heston).
The novel opens six months after an epidemic has killed everyone but Robert Neville. It has been seven years since he has spoken to another human being and eight years since his wife and daughter died. Reflecting the Cold War fears of its time, the book's disease was a virus carried in the dust storms created by nuclear war. Reflecting its American culture, Neville is totally self-sufficient, building his own defences, teaching himself to be a scientist, taking on the world.
SPOILER ALERT
We won't tell you how the film ends (though if you haven't seen it, you may want to stop reading here!) but the book does not have a happy ending.
Neville spends years studying vampires in the Los Angeles Public Library (Smith's film is set in New York) looking for scientific explanations. Why does a stick of wood kill vampires and bullets do not? Why does garlic prevent them from attacking? Why are they afraid of the cross?
Neville's life becomes a daytime search for the undead, in order to kill them; and his nights are spent hiding from them. After three years of this, Neville is hunted down and killed by vampires who were once his neighbours and who consider him the aberration.
He alone is immune to the disease and that makes him the outsider. He is the legendary monster who must be destroyed, because he is different from everyone else.
This will sound familiar. Some time in the future there is a virus that turns people into vampires. In Septemberwe talked about the horror film 28 Weeks Later, in which that was the premise. Here, we are talking about a sci-fi film in which there is a virus that turns people into vampires.
What's the difference? In 28 Weeks Later the virus is a bio-disaster in London requiring a military solution. In I Am Legend, the virus is part of a military weapon that has destroyed the world, making one scientist the last man on earth.
In fact, the writer of the 2002 film 28 Days Later says he took ideas for his script from the novel, I Am Legend. The film Night of the Living Dead (1968) also took its inspiration from that novel, and most zombie movies since then have been inspired in turn by Night of the Living Dead, so the plot line has a long history we've all heard before. But the last man left on earth in this version is Will Smith.
Everybody loves Will Smith. He seems to be an easy-going, generally nice guy on-screen and off. He first starred on TV as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, establishing a charming and funny character that attracted audiences across age, race and gender lines, and for which he is still famous. He had a short music career as "The Fresh Prince" too. Then his humour made films like Independence Day and Men in Black huge box-office hits. More recently he was the sympathetic hero of Pursuit of Happyness, based on a true and heart-warming story. He co-starred with his real-life son in this more serious role and was rewarded with his second nomination for an Oscar. His first nomination was for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali in Ali. Smith has said his one regret in the movie business was turning down the (Keanu Reeves) role of Neo in The Matrix in favour of Wild, Wild West, which was a big mistake.
In fact, when it comes to I Am Legend, sci-fi fans are suspicious about Will Smith being Robert Neville, because of his popularity. They worry that the film will not be true to the book (purists also disapproved of the Smith film of the Asimov classic, I, Robot), and that Will Smith will be his funny, good-guy character, rather than the dark hero of the original story.
SCIENCE-FICTION STORY
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson (who also wrote The Incredible Shrinking Man), was published in 1954 and pictured a future in the years 1976-79. The story is about the individual isolated in a hostile world, trying to survive. Stephen King says it was this book that taught him that "horror could appear in the suburbs, on the street, or even in the house next door" and helped him write Salem's Lot. I Am Legend became a science-fiction classic and has already been made into two films, The Last Man on Earth (1964, starring Vincent Price) and The Omega Man (1971, a very bad film starring Charlton Heston).
The novel opens six months after an epidemic has killed everyone but Robert Neville. It has been seven years since he has spoken to another human being and eight years since his wife and daughter died. Reflecting the Cold War fears of its time, the book's disease was a virus carried in the dust storms created by nuclear war. Reflecting its American culture, Neville is totally self-sufficient, building his own defences, teaching himself to be a scientist, taking on the world.
We won't tell you how the film ends (though if you haven't seen it, you may want to stop reading here!) but the book does not have a happy ending.
Neville spends years studying vampires in the Los Angeles Public Library (Smith's film is set in New York) looking for scientific explanations. Why does a stick of wood kill vampires and bullets do not? Why does garlic prevent them from attacking? Why are they afraid of the cross?
Neville's life becomes a daytime search for the undead, in order to kill them; and his nights are spent hiding from them. After three years of this, Neville is hunted down and killed by vampires who were once his neighbours and who consider him the aberration.
He alone is immune to the disease and that makes him the outsider. He is the legendary monster who must be destroyed, because he is different from everyone else.
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