"I Am Legend"

I saw the movie I Am Legend yesterday, starring Will Smith. I went into the theater expecting to like the movie a lot, but came out with mixed feelings. (Stop reading here if you don't want to hear of any spoilers....)

The cinematography and special effects were good for the most part, even great... the scenes of an abandoned New York City were right on and very eerie.... and Will Smith played the last man on earth about as well as anyone could have. The dog was pretty good, too.

But the CGI zombies weren't convincing. They moved too fast and and with too much power. They just didn't look believable. What virus is going to do that to people (and canines)? Every time I've ever gotten a virus I can barely stand vertical -- why do all these movies -- I Am Legend, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later -- have virus that turn people into raving lunatics? It's supposed to be scary, I know, but to me isn't nearly as scary as the virus in The Stand, which just devastatingly and thoroughly incapacitates people. Or something like ebola, where you just bleed out of every orifice on your body. Frankly, the zombies in The Omega Man 36 years ago were scarier.

Still, the movie was interesting, and even scary, especially if somewhere deep down in your psyche you have an issue with the apocalypse. But then it all ended too fast -- one minute Will Smith is trying to save his newfound friends, and the next minute the movie is suddenly over. It brings you out way too fast and you blink your eyes a few times and just feel unsatisfied.

I think that virus-devastating-mankind movies have about run their course, though, and are going to need a seriously new angle if they're going to be considered as interesting.