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By all means, I Am Legend is not a terrible movie, but it is a movie that could have been much better. The concept is absolutely great(coming from someone who has very little knowledge about the book), and the film does start off brilliantly with plenty of emotional impact and a convincing enough chemistry between Will Smith and the dog, who is very cute and believable. The film does look great too, the scenery and photography are excellent and apart from the odd dodgy CGI the special effects are pretty good also. There is also an intense and brooding soundtrack, decent direction and a brilliant, charismatic lead performance from Will Smith.
However, where I Am Legend isn't so successful is that under this surface it has its heart in the right place, but there are moments in the second half of the film on the surface that comes across as hollow. Speaking of the second half, this is where the film does fall down in an attempt to be too ambitious, and in the process situations are underdeveloped and characters fall into cliché territory and you don't feel enough for them emotionally. The film feels overlong, with the ending taking longer to evolve than it ought to have done and the pace in an attempt to explain everything becomes very sluggish. And there is a problem with the explanations, some of it does feel under-cooked. The script is also uneven, in the first half it was poignant and credible, but like the characters it becomes increasingly clichéd.
Overall, worth watching but I couldn't help thinking it could have been more. 5/10 Bethany Cox
5/10
