I Am Legend: Preview

By A A on July 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Lone Star Will Smith may be the last man on earth in I AM LEGEND

We’ve all asked the question:What would you do if you were stranded alone on a desert island? As horrifying as that scenario may be, what’s worse is the idea of being the last person on earth. For Will Smith’s character Robert Neville in I Am Legend, this horrific thought becomes reality. In the film, loosely based on the book by Richard Matheson, Smith takes on the role of a scientist who faces one killer disease he cannot figure out how to contain. In fact, it appears to be unstoppable and incurable. As this plague wipes out most of the human race, somehow, not knowing why, Neville is immune.

Having had no human contact in three years, Neville fears he is the last human survivor in what is left of New York City, and possibly the world. “My name is Robert Neville. I am a survivor living in New York City. If there is anybody out there… anybody… please… you are not alone,” Smith’s character says in the film. But he soon discovers he is not alone. Those known as “the Infected”—victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings, existing in the dark, devouring and infecting anyone or anything in their path—surround him. Perhaps mankind’s last and best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the bacterium using his own immune blood. Unfortunately, it’s his blood that the Infected hunt. Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time.

The last movie we saw a main character going it alone was Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks, which Smith says was a big influence on him when making the film. For Warner Bros’ production president Jeff Robinov, it’s the story’s notion of isolation, and the fear of it, that makes it attractive. “For an actor, it involves a lot of character, the idea of being the last survivor,” he tells the New York Times. “And for a director it’s the story, the ability to create a different version of society, of where the world is at that point.” For director Francis Lawrence and cowriter/ co-producer Akiva Goldsman, location was key in pulling off the isolation theme even though the story in the original novel was set in Los Angeles. Goldsman tells the New York Times the location was changed to New York because they felt it would better convey the shattering effects of one man being alone. “It’s hard to make Los Angeles feel empty,” Goldsman says. “Here, you just have to look down Fifth Avenue empty, and you understand something. There’s a conveyance of information and fantasy that is wonderful and amazing.”

Although Smith is the only major player in the film, he does have co-stars. According to actress Salli Richardson-Whitfield, who plays Smith’s wife, her character and daughter are pivotal in setting the tone for bad things to come. “What would happen if you were to see a virus that’s killing the whole world and your husband is the only hope?” Richardson- Whitfield tells Blackfilm.com. “You have your child there and what happens to her if she dies? We’re going to be sent away [in the beginning]. Will we see each other again? Will he be alive? Will he be safe? I think it just sets up the whole film for the devastation that’s going to happen.” Playing his daughter in the film is Willow Smith, Smith’s real-life 6-year-old daughter who makes her onscreen debut. (Smith co-starred with his son Jaden Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness.)

For movie fans itching for a holiday blockbuster, Smith hopes audiences won’t be disappointed. “I’m interested to see how people react to it,” Smith tells movies.about.com. “We’ve designed something completely aggressive and new and different, so we’ll see how it works out.”

Cast: Will Smith, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith, Alice Braga
Director:Francis Lawrence
Locations: New York, Los Angeles

Outtake

The film was originally going to be made in the ’90s starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ridley Scott directing. The budget became too expensive and they both left to pursue other projects.

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