NOW ON DVD

I AM LEGEND

Rated PG-13
Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith

Brian’s Rating       

Since revisiting I Am Legend on DVD, I’ve wrestled with how to point out the movie’s shortcomings without revealing the outcome. So I’m going to steer clear of the two plot developments that took the wind out of the film’s sails and focus on a few other things that grabbed my attention.

What starts out as a thrilling tale of apocalyptic horror disintegrates into a disappointingly familiar tale of zombies stalking humans and vice versa, complete with a textbook ending and the standard clichés.

However, along the way we get to see some fine work by Will Smith, some amazingly convincing shots of a deserted New York City, and some jump-out-of-your-skin monster-movie magic.

In leaner DVD times, I might be able to recommend this film based on special effects alone, but in the last few weeks so many Oscar-winning films have arrived on the videostore shelves that you can put this one way down on your list.