I am Legend - The review

[Cbriddle]

Allow me to start off by saying that I am really glad this movie wasn't made 10 years ago when the film makers wanted to use Arnold Schwarzeneggar. That being said, I went last night to the 10:00 show and I was not disappointed. I got there early, got a great seat and saw some really cool previews of upcoming movies. The Dark Knight looks awesome and how about Ironman. We'll get into those another time. Side note - They have Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark, a billionaire weapons manufacturer and jet setting playboy, AKA Ironman. Who would'a thunk it? Downey is a known drug addict and has even spent time behind bars for his exploits- some drug related, others not. Kudos though, because he is a great actor and from the previews I've seen, he looks pretty comfortable in the role. We'll have to wait 'til May to see for ourselves.

OK, Will Smith plays Dr. Robert Neville - Army Colonel and survivor of a massive epidemic that devastates more then 5 billion people including his family (They get killed another way but it's all related) Go figure - Army colonel, Doctor, Humanitarian and scientist all in one! After the devastation, Neville considers it his obligation to create a cure for this plague that has caused other survivors to mutate into vampire/zombies that roam at night wreaking havok, eating raw flesh and are allergic to the sun. Sounds a little like Night of the Living Dead which by the way is a movie inspired by the novel by Richard Matheson. There was also the Omega Man starring Charlton Heston made back in the seventies. I've seen them all and Will Smith is the man - nuff said! Dr. Neville spends his days with his dog "Sam" doing their various errands like checking out DVD's, hitting golf balls, working out (Will is ripped!), gathering corn and oh yeah - working on a cure in his lab that just happens to be very well equiped and conveniently down in his basement. He has some nasty rats caged up down there! He does experiments on them trying to find something that will cure their nasty attitudes and sensitivity to sunlight - even Willard (rat movie) would be scared. Whoops - back to our main man Col. Neville - one cool cat that has brains and brawn. I guess it wouldn't be much of a story if our hero was a taxi driver or a ditch digger unless they were just doing those jobs to cover their secret identity as mega brainacs with superior intellects and physiques born of another world, sent here to protect mankind............ I am getting carried away. Neville broadcasts daily on all AM stations, all across America hoping to find someone out there. He remains optimistic yet his true colors are shown when he actually meets another survivor. Neville has all the tools except the one that may matter the most - people skills. He has been alone so long that he doesn't know how to relate to non vampire /zombie like creatures. Neville finds common ground with a young boy by reciting the lines from Shrek.

He likes Shrek!! At this point, all hell breaks loose because the Zombies have now found Will's house/lab and boy oh boy, what a can of worms that opens. Lots of explosions and gnarly undead climbing into his once "safe" house. What will they do? Looks like that combat training that the Army gave Neville is gonna come in handy. He fights them off and in a final retreat he goes down to his basement and .......Look if I told you this part it would ruin the whole thing. One things for sure, All the alien and robot killing that Will has done in previous movies comes in handy. He has his plate full with these unsavory folks. My recomendation is to get yourself a ticket and let the movie magic begin. You should even consider checking out the aforementioned titles. Keep in mind you won't get the level of special effects that you get with I Am Legend but all the same, its a great concept and FYI "If it bleeds - we can kill it" wouldn't really work here. I'm glad Hollyweird waited for Will Smith to do this movie. Now if we can just get Will suited up as the GREEN LANTERN - now that would be super cool. If the world can buy Robert Downey Jr as Ironman. We will certainly buy the Fresh Prince as Green Lantern.

[Cbriddle]

BEIJING, Dec. 17(Xinhuanet) -- The Warner Bros. tale "I Am Legend" starring Will Smith as a plague survivor who may be the last living human, debuted with the biggest December opening ever in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The film brought in 76.5 million U.S. dollars and was the seventh consecutive chart-topper for the versatile Smith. It combined with a surprisingly strong 45 million dollars debut for "Alvin and the Chipmunks" to end the box office's five-week losing streak.

"It's no wonder Will Smith feels so lonely. Everyone else on Earth is in the movie theater," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

"I Am Legend" ranks as the best December opening of all time, beating the 72.6 million dollar start for "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" in 2003, the Time Warner Inc-owned studio said, noting it had hoped for an opening in the mid-40 million range.