BY MICHEAL DOWDAL
Lions’ pride Staff Writer

I Am Legend was a novel written by Richard Matheson in 1954, describing an eerie post-apocalyptic scenario wherein one man is isolated in the remains of a city filled with vampires. Said vampires were the result of a disease which he was seemingly immune to. Numerous revisions and re-imaginings of this tale have appeared since the book’s release, and 2007’s I Am Legend is no exception.

In the newest incarnation, the tale follows Robert Neville (Will Smith), a military scientist who is alone in the remains of New York, the sole survivor of a horrible plague that transformed the remaining humans into fearsome monsters. He locks his doors at nights and hides from the monsters that overrun the city, while during the day he attempts to find a cure to restore the monsters who hunt him with such vigor.

Will Smith’s performance is all at once heartbreaking, endearing, and bad-to-the-bone. The terror of Robert Neville standing in an empty apartment that is full of monsters is cut by his ingenuity as he figures out a way to cheat death again and again. However, the reality of knowing how alone he is continues to set in and tear apart his mind.

While this film isn’t as accurate as past iterations, such as The Last Man on Earth, it still keeps true to the feel of the book. Disassociate it with the book and you’ll find a movie that surpasses all expectations. This movie is most definitely worth at least one watch, maybe two.

I Am Legend runs for 101 minutes and caries a PG-13 rating for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.