I used to really not be a huge fan of this film. I loved to make fun of Will Smith’s acting range, which was basically either Will Smith or Muhammed Ali, and that was it. Here, he is still very much Will Smith, but he had some nice dimensions to his character.
So the story is that a cure for cancer has gone horribly wrong. It killed like 90% of those it infected and mutated another chunk into these nocturnal badass things. They were kinda like vampires due to the night thing and not being able to go out in the light. They were very fast, aggressive, and ravenous. They were always in groups when possible. Robert Neville (Will Smith) is seemingly the last guy alive in New York City as he stayed and worked on a vaccine while the island went under quarantine. He lost his wife and daughter, who were being transported via helicopter. He did keep his trusty dog, Sam, though. We see how Robert deals with day to day living and hunting. He is still working on a cure. Unfortunately, things start going horribly wrong about halfway through.
Honestly, there are going to be spoilers moving forward because in order to truly discuss this film, you have to talk about a handful of the bigger moments. If you want to avoid spoilers, scroll down to the rating.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The people who made this film knew how often and when to tug on the heartstrings. All of the flashbacks with his family kept progressively getting sadder and sadder. When the helicopter crashes into the other one, it all just hits you hard. It really does. Yet, that wasn’t the ultimate gut punch. First, when his daughter, Marley, gives him Sam to keep and protect him, it was definitely a moment. You know where this is going. You knew that dog wasn’t going to live until the end. The dog was there as a tool to crush your damn spirit! You were going to fall in love with Sam, and then she was bound to do something that got her hurt. Sure enough, she got very badly hurt during a showdown with some infected dogs. By the way, Robert, you could have gotten off your ass a bit faster and prevented this. That shit really pissed me off! Your life is on the line. Fuck man. Well, Sam ends up turning and Robert must kill her. Fucking A man. Horror movies rarely make you feel that sad. It bothered me just a bit more because when this film came out, I had a dog named Sam. I hadn’t seen this since we had to put her down in 2014. I’m not going to lie, that scene hit me incredibly hard this time around. Let’s just move on.
Will Smith deserved some serious recognition for his acting in. I truly believe that. This may have been better than his performance in Ali. Seriously, Tom Hanks gets accolades for Cast Away, but Will gets no love for this, and that isn’t fair. The addition of Anna and Ethan was a necessary addition to keep the film going. I liked how Will had that final showdown with that one asshole, and I loved the grenade ending, although I’m a tad surprised that Anna and Ethan got out unscathed. That was an explosion, and I would think it’s safe to say that the place probably stayed on fire for awhile. But whatever, it’s a movie.
I thought the mutants were actually pretty scary for what they were. Those things are just terrifying in their own way. This was a fairly realistic feeling scenario. It was better than the typical reason for an epidemic, in my opinion.
END SPOILERS
Rating: 7.7 – This movie did a great job all around. It looked beautiful, the acting was very good, and the music was solid. There were a few laughs, a few tears, a scare or two perhaps. It did what it set out to do. I guess as times change, so does my taste in films.
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:
- Warner Bros. (presents)
- Village Roadshow Pictures (in association with)
- Weed Road Pictures (as Weed Road)
- Overbrook Entertainment
- 3 Arts Entertainment (uncredited)
- Heyday Films (uncredited)
- Original Film (uncredited)
Please go find a copy and support the creators.