I am Legend

Will Smith has always been an actor I like since the time he was not so famous as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In I am Legend, in my opinion he has delivered his best performance to-date, at least his films that I have watched.

This film practically blew me away with its multiple scenes of New York being totally deserted, I remembered watching a similar film, 28 Days Later which had had London being emptied of its people too.

However, between these two films, I am Legend wins hands down with the strong portrayal of Will Smith in his role as Robert Neville. I was particularly hit by the scene of him training together with his dog and the sheer intensity of his seriousness in keeping fit while doing his chin-ups. His muscular frame and multiple abs must have taken him alot of work and time to attain. I was sort of inspired to be like him.. hahaaa... unlikely but I hope to attain perhaps 10% of what he has.

The sheer loneliness of being the last man of earth... or rather New York filled with strange creatures who roams at night, was in essence the reason why Robert Neville fills his time doing his fitness training seriously. He even goes back to humanity's roots of hunting, cultivating or gathering of food. For entertainment, he goes to the DVD store to so-called 'rent' the movies there. He even returns the DVDs that he as finished.

What is striking about the film is that it shows that man after all is a social animal. With absence of other humans, Robert resorts to talking to his dog and even mannequins in the DVD store. I guess that is the only way he could maintain his sanity. I remembered the other film, Castaway where another lone man protrayed by Tom Hanks talking to a basketball (with straws sticking out as hair and a some stuff being put on it to as eyes, nose and mouth).

What was more touching was the scene on how he had to kill his beloved dog after it got infected with the virus. Such is the fraility of the human mind as after the loss of his dog, he felt no reason to live anymore... but luckily other survivors appeared to save him.

Well, in the end, Robert made the ultimate sacrifice... and it ends with him being the legend.

Rating: ***** (5/5)