I Am Legend (2007)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

WARNING: This review gives major details about this and other movies that may influence your decision as to whether or not to watch this one. As the movie is based on a book that has been made into two other movies, this decision may have already been made. Continue watching at your own risk.




First came a book by Richard Matheson called I Am Legend. It was about a man immune to a plague that was trying to find a cure. From that book came several (credited) movies and possible an entire genre.

The first movie was called The Last Man on Earth and featured Vincent Price as Dr. Robert Morgan, a man who was bitten by a bat and thinks it’s given him an immunity to a worldwide plague that’s killed his family. He spends his days seeking supplies and his nights hiding from humans that have become vampires. He manages to find a few other survivors and eventually saves humanity, but dies trying.

The second movie was called The Omega Man. It starred Charlton Heston as Colonel Robert Neville, a man who has a vaccine, giving him immunity against a worldwide plague that’s killed almost everyone. Neville finds a few survivors, manages to save them, but ends up dying in the process. Notice a pattern here? I was a bit reluctant to see the movie called I Am Legend because I kind of figured it had to follow the same basic premise.

This time, it’s a cure for cancer that’s the cause of a worldwide plague in 2009, which wipes out much of humanity. Lt. Col. Robert Neville is the last uninfected man in Manhattan. He’s also a doctor that’s lost his family. He didn’t create the virus, but he has…drum roll please…an immunity and wants to use that to help those infected, who have become vampire-like mutants. He has some success on rats, but not on humans.

For the three years between the outbreak and the start of the movie, Neville spends all of his time with his dog, Samantha. Together, they go out together during the day looking for food and ‘renting’ movies. Neville has placed mannequins throughout the city so he can have conversations with them. At night, he has to hide in his house from said mutants. He has entire house on lockdown to protect himself. I’m not going to go through the rest, as you have to assume that the movie either follows the first two or it doesn’t.

Will Smith has come a long way since Fresh Price of Bel-Air. For most of the movie, we get to see Neville alone. This has to be hard for Will Smith, as his only costars are a dog and several inanimate objects. This couldn’t have been easy, as a good deal of acting involves playing off of other people. According to IMDB, there are two dogs credited as playing Samantha. (I’m assuming one was the adult Sam and the other was Sam as a puppy featured in a series of flashbacks.) I remember reading that Smith wouldn’t let many other people around the dog playing the adult Sam so that they would have a stronger bond.

As for the mutants, it was a little obvious to the untrained eye that they were CGI. They were supposed to be actors, but the actors just couldn’t get rid of all emotion. It didn’t really detract from the movie, as they weren’t shown that much. Otherwise, the special effects were great. I heard that most of the emptiness of New York City was done with computers and I didn’t even notice it.

Of the three movies, I’m torn between liking this one and The Omega Man the best. This one looked more modern, but it also looked more Hollywood. It had all sorts of fight scenes and explosions. The Omega Man seemed to be more about the plot and the characters. Heston was able to interact with the infected. Here, it was man against beasts.

I would definitely recommend seeing The Omega Man, especially if you’re going to see this one. It’s up to you which you see first. As for the rating, Last Man on Earth gets four stars.

IMDb page

Frankenweenie (2012)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

When I looked to see if Frankenweenie was available to review on Epinions, I was surprised to find out that it wasn’t.  What I found was the original, 1984 version that Tim Burton also made.  Both movies are based on an idea of Burton’s.  The 1984 version was written by Leonard Ripps and ran for only 29 minutes.  In 2012, Burton decided to make a feature-length version, this time written by John August.  (Epinions has the 1984 version listed, which I think may have prevented the 2012 version from being automatically added.)  Anyway, I’ll be reviewing the 2012 version as I haven’t seen the original short yet.

The movie is about a boy named Victor Frankenstein.  He loves science, making movies and above all else, his dog, Sparky.  His father wants him to find new things to love, as most parents would.  Victor keeps to himself, mostly, so his father gets him on to a baseball team.  This leads to a tragic accident that takes the life of Sparky.  Victor is devastated.  However, without this accident, we wouldn’t have a movie.  You see, it isn’t long before Victor’s favorite teacher, Mr. Rzykruski, inspires him with a demonstration of how an electric shock can make a frog’s leg move.  Victor gets the idea to reanimate Sparky.

This is one of those movies where everything goes right, making everything else go wrong.  The reanimation works, but Victor has to keep it a secret, even from his own family.  What would everyone think?  After all, people named Frankenstein don’t have the best track record with reanimated corpses.  This goes well until Sparky gets out and is seen by Edgar “E” Gore.  Pretty soon, many of Victor’s classmates want in on the action.  There’s a science fair coming up and a reanimated corpse would make for a great project.  Each of the classmates wants to reanimate various animals like sea monkeys.  It‘s up to Victor and Sparky to save the day.

This movie is not for everyone.  Tim Burton is one of those directors that is a bit unusual.  He’s directed Dark Shadows, Corpse Bride, Mars Attacks! and Edward Scissorhands to give you an idea.  (There’s also Big Fish and the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes, which are a bit more mainstreamish.)  Also, the movie is stop motion.  This may turn off some people and interest others.  The movie is a bit dark for smaller children.  You don’t see Sparky killed, but there’s no doubt what happens.  It should be safe for teens and up.

I had gotten this movie through Redbox while my brother was in town.  We had both wanted to see it, so I took the opportunity to use a free code that I had gotten through Checkpoints.  I wasn’t disappointed.  I kind of knew what to expect.  I have no problem with animated features and I’ve liked a few of Tim Burton’s films.  I caught a few references to other pet- and horror-related things.  If you look in the pet cemetery, there’s a turtle named Shelly and a Goodbye Kitty, among other things.  (Not everyone will catch these, so pay attention.)  There are a few other characters, like an Elsa Van Helsing, as well.

The movie had been released in 3-D in theaters.  I would have liked to see the movie this way, but I don’t know if there’s any easy, convenient way of doing this for a video release.  I know you can get durable blue-red stereoscopic glasses for a few dollars, but I don’t know how many people are going to order them when relatively few movies are released in 3-D.  Maybe one day, I’ll get the chance.

IMDb page