Smith is Legend

By: galaga51
Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007

If you need to be guided to cinematic gold, perhaps a compass will not help you. However, Will Smith is bound to shine a light on the darkness this weekend in this quick-paced thriller with some action, horror, drama, and sci-fi to boot. Smith (Robert Neville) does well showing a survivor, coping with a lack of human communication. But it is not all acting and scene presence; cinematic sophomoric director Francis Lawrence and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie do an amazing job putting Smith (Robert Neville) in a very lonely town - a very big, lonely town.

Set in New York in the very near future, the city and the world around are afflicted by a plague, quite an effective one at that. Nature's grasp is already retaking the city in amazing shots reminiscent of Vanilla Sky, but not everything is very natural. Those who have not fled the city are dead or transformed into ... well, rabid zombie-vampires might be close, but labels are so restricting. They come out in the darkness and they come out to feed, so watch out Mr. Neville, these Dark Seekers might seek you.

Robert Neville is a scientist, but definitely not one who withers away in a lab. When not trying to find a cure in the best and creative ways he knows how, he is out on the streets looking for food with his loyal canine companion, hitting golf balls atop a Blackbird at the docks, or mingling with the dummies at a local video store. For all of these reasons - and everything does seem to happen for a reason - he finds himself in dangerous situations, ones that are bound to frighten the children, scare the skittish, and excite the thrill seekers. Neville doesn't want to tangle with his neighbors, but it's bound to happen and the action slowly increases in waves, helping build the tension throughout. There is very little gore to haunt the kids for years to come, but children may not want the screaming man (and he is loud) in their dreams until the new year.

That is not to say the entire movie is scary. It pulses between sadness and hope, calm and action, and it all seems to fit in a neat package of only an hour and a half. And while its violent content against a somber tone might stand out from the typical Oscar push or children fantasy, it is not necessarily mistimed; you will even likely notice a Christmas tree in one scene. But if you are really looking, you comic book geeks - er... graphic novel aficionados will notice a hint at a cinematic cross-over that I would not expect in a few years, but that is not to say it would not happen.

Although the special effects had some minor flaws, it would be poor form to point them out and draw attention from an otherwise superb film. A cross genre feel with a big star, a decent budget, a tight story and good action... what more could a Maniac want? Well, perhaps a trailer or featurette for an upcoming film that was not shown. Enjoy.

Click here to read the staff review by Mania.