December 10, 2008 - 4:13 am - Posted by Administrator
Sebastian Caine [Kevin Bacon] is a man with voyeuristic tendencies. Dangerous character trait for a man working on an invisibility serum. In a modern day update of The Invisible Man, director Paul Verhoeven presents a morality play; a cautionary tale about the dangers of technology in the hands of the wrong man. If you had the power to go anywhere, do anything, and get away with it, how far would you go?
Along with his partner, Dr. Linda McKay [Elizabeth Shue], Sebastian Caine and a team of researchers pursue their invisibility serum in an animal testing laboratory, making intermittent progress but enduring horrific failures in the process. When Caine is unable to complete his project on an acceptable timeline, he is forced to dangerously accelerate his program to the human testing phase–with himself as the subject–to satisfy the Pentagon. Unfortunately he is entirely unprepared for the effect the serum will have on his psyche. While the insanely painful transformation process has the desired physical effect, Caine slowly loses his mind and becomes a homicidal maniac.
The special effects in Hollow Man are fantastic and garnered an Oscar nomination for Visual Effects, although some of the creative choices could strike viewers as campy. Every injection seems to be a fluorescent liquid, every computer monitor a wildly colorful display. The realism feels impacted somehow by the Disney-esque vibe. Make no mistake though, Hollow Man is graphic and violent.
Hollow Man also features a supporting cast that’s a virtual who’s who of actors who were little known at the time. Josh Brolin [No Country for Old Men] plays Matthew Kensington, fellow researcher and Shue’s love interest. Greg Grunberg [Heroes] plays another researcher, Kim Dickens [Thank You for Smoking, Lost] plays Sarah Kennedy, and William Devane appears predictably as a government heavy, Dr. Howard Kramer.
Although the dialogue can seem a bit contrived at points and the character development is a bit thin, Hollow Man really hits full stride about an hour in, as Caine becomes a full raging lunatic. As he stalks his victims the suspense is compelling and reminiscent of slasher flicks where the killer is always hiding in the shadows, always just out of sight. In many ways, Hollow Man is as much horror as it is science fiction.
*** Three Stars ***
Posted in 2000, Three Star Rating | No Comments »
November 20, 2008 - 1:49 pm - Posted by Administrator
Since the first Batman movie starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, Hollywood has been attempting to recapture the magic of superhero movies. On occasion they’ve come close [Spiderman], and in other instances they’ve failed miserably [Fantastic Four].
Iron Man does not replace Batman at the top spot on my personal favorite superhero movie list, but it comes in a damn close second. It is the best adaptation of a comic book for the screen in many years. Director Jon Favreau, better known for his acting in roles like that of Vince Vaughn’s sidekick Mike Peters in the movie Swingers (Baby you are so money and you don’t even know it), does a fantastic job avoiding all of the pitfalls that have made other comic adaptations weak.
Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark–weapons designer and atomic playboy. To Favreau’s credit, he avoids the temptation to incorporate another protagonist into the story… there is no Robin or Batgirl. He does however allude to a possible future sidekick for Iron Man at one point in the movie where Terence Howard’s character Rhodey looks at the extra Iron Man suit in Stark’s workshop and says, “Maybe next time.” Jeff Bridges plays villain Obadiah Stane, and again the writers made the right choice in not incorporating more villains into the film, leaving plenty of time for character development.
After spending months in captivity in a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, Downey’s Stark must find a way to escape. Forced to work on a missile in an insurgent’s cave, he instead builds a prototype of the Iron Man suit and uses it to escape. Upon returning to America, Stark has seen the error of his ways and announces to the world that he will retire from designing weapons, much to the chagrin of Obadiah Stane and the shareholders of Stark Industries. The decision to cease production of weapons systems forms the crux of the conflict, ultimately leading to the climactic battle between Iron Man and Obadiah Stane.
The special effects are fantastic in Iron Man but do not overpower the story. And perhaps it’s just my personal taste, but somehow a guy who builds a suit that allows him to fly is more believable to me than say, a guy who’s dosed with cosmic rays and suddenly finds himself with the ability to spontaneously combust, or stretch his own body to fantastic proportions. Technology is real, however distant. Super powers from genetic mutations are not. Or at least that’s the way I see it.
Robert Downey Jr. portrays Stark with the sarcastic wit that can only be Downey, Jeff Bridges’ bald Obadiah Stane screams “villain” from the opening scenes, and Gwyneth Paltrow plays Stark’s assistant Polly Potts with a skillful and yet subtle presence which doesn’t supercede the superhero storyline like Kirsten Dunst’ Mary Jane character did in the Spiderman movies.
Iron Man is fantastic and worthy of a sequel, something we get a hint of with a cameo by Samuel L. Jackson following the credits. Grab your popcorn and get ready for a wild ride, Iron Man is solid.
****Four Stars
Posted in 2008, Four Star Rating, superhero | No Comments »
November 10, 2008 - 12:27 am - Posted by Administrator
Hollywood’s penchant for making (and re-making) time worn-concepts has begun to get on my nerves. There are so many good ideas waiting to be made into major motion pictures, and yet we’re subjected to so many bad concepts and remakes, I’m never sure if it’s worth the ten spot to check them out in the theatre.
So allow me to present my list of concepts which are ripe for motion picture treatment. Some are old science fiction concepts which have fallen by the wayside, some would be considered more “speculative” fiction, but all could make great movies if paired with the right cast, director, and producer.
1. The Space Ark - The concept of a space ark, also known as a GenShip or generation ship, is a science fiction concept which has been covered many times by some of sci-fi’s best writers. Unfortunately, with the advent of “hyperspace” and “wormholes” and “stargates” the concept of a GenShip as a setting for a story has fallen by the wayside. It is no longer considered a popular idea.
The concept is simple. The human race has discovered a habitable planet light-years distant to replace (or augment) our polluted home world. Due to technological limitations however, we are unable to get there in a short period of time. Thus, the human race is forced to build a space ark capable of carrying thousands of space travelers. The humans live their entire life aboard the ship, marrying, reproducing, and dying in the hopes that their mission will eventually reach the new home planet and their descendants will colonize a new world. The timeline in a space ark story can cover a span of 1000 years or more. Although critics point to that exceptionally long timeline as one reason why a space ark movie is a difficult story to tell, I think the timeline obstacle could be overcome by telling the story in multiple parts… sequels. I got your attention now don’t I Hollywood?
2. Time Travel Disaster creates Alternate History - This movie involves traveling to the past and accidentally altering it to catastrophic effect. Variations of this theme have been done [A Sound of Thunder, Back 2 the Future] however a full blown “alternate history” movie has never achieved any level of significant success. I should mention there is an excellent alternate history movie starring Rutger Hauer, originally made for HBO, called Fatherland. It explores the notion of a world where Germany won WWII. It lacks any science fiction elements however. Imagine how cool a movie could be, exploring what the world would be like if JFK hadn’t been assassinated? Or if the Wright Brothers hadn’t invented flight? Or if 9/11 had been prevented?
3. Colonization of Mars - Now I know you’re thinking… “They’ve done that movie a thousand times!” I disagree. Every Mars movie I’ve seen involves some strange and/or impossible discovery on the surface of Mars–alien artifacts, aliens, and even air. No please. Not that movie. I mean a real colonization movie depicting Mars realistically; portraying the hardship and drama that real settlers will go through. You could do ten movies based on Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars trilogy.
4. Solar System War - Set in the distant future, humans have colonized much of the system including the Moon, Venus, Mars, Europa, and even Ceres. Due to living conditions, they have evolved into their own species, different from the humans their ancestors once were. A forthcoming disaster on a planetary scale prompts a war between the clans of the solar system.
5. Bigfoot - As a kid I was scared to death of Bigfoot, but the character has never really been the subject of a movie of any merit. Harry and the Hendersons doesn’t count. Maybe directors and studios have been put off by the stereotypical storyline of a Bigfoot movie–tree huggers try to save it, hunters try to kill it–but believe me there are other stories that can be told around the Bigfoot legend. Same thing with the Wendigo.
6. Don’t Take Me to Your Leader - This idea first came to me as “What if aliens landed on Earth, but chose to visit a country not friendly to the western world?” That idea morphed into a story of a hostile government covering up an alien landing and then reverse-engineering alien technology in an attempt to conquer the world. I actually tried to work out a screenplay based on this idea and got seventy pages into it before I got lost in my own characters.
By the way, if you’re a studio head or director looking for an idea, I have all of the above ideas fleshed out in my head and would be happy to sell them to you. Who am I kidding? There are no studio heads or directors reading this blog.
At any rate, here’s to hoping some of these concepts get made instead of Speed Racer II.
Posted in opinion | No Comments »
November 4, 2008 - 1:30 am - Posted by Administrator
Maria Lidon directs and co-stars in this Spanish science fiction film (in English) about an expedition to Mars which crash lands on the surface. Faced with certain death, the international crew of astronauts is forced to consider extreme measures.
The script for Stranded is actually quite good save for a few “scientific liberties” which detract from the realism. And the cast includes a few gems including Vincent Gallo [Buffalo ‘66, Goodfellas] as the pessimistic engineer, Maria De Madeiros [Babel, Pulp Fiction] as the determined medical officer, and Joaquim de Almeida [Clear and Present Danger, 24] as the level-headed Fidel Rodrigo. As accomplished actors, they all do a remarkable job with difficult space-oriented terminology. Stranded’s primary downfall is the badly dubbed voices of Director Lidon’s character Susana Sanchez and co-star Daniel Aser’s character Herbert Sagan. I don’t know if they dubbed their own performances or had other voice actors handle it, but they are terrible. The stilted scientific dialog doesn’t ease the task, and it shows. The late Johnny Ramone plays a small part as the co-pilot Lowell who stays behind on the mothership in orbit and actually gives a better performance than Lidon or Aser.
Now lest you think I’m being unduly harsh, I will say this low-budget space flick does a remarkably good job portraying realistic spaceflight scenarios on a severely limited budget. The indoor sets look like they came right off the international space station. The outdoor scenes look a lot like Mars, although the low resolution computer graphics begin to show when we’re subjected to views of the planet from orbit.
The pacing of Stranded can be a little slow at times, the story building from the crew’s initial resignation at their plight, through desperation to survive, and culminating with an amazing discovery on the red planet. It’s that amazing discovery that seems to be the entire purpose of the script, and it takes a while to get there. The time that could have been spent building character definition is ultimately wasted on sequences of petty arguments that prove inconsequential to the outcome.
Personally, I think young directors and writers would benefit the most from viewing Stranded. It’s a textbook low budget science fiction movie that can teach you a few tricks, and most certainly shows a few examples of what to avoid.
** Two stars.
Posted in 2002, Alien Contact, Surprise Ending, The Future, Two Star Rating | No Comments »
October 17, 2008 - 2:24 am - Posted by Administrator
Rollerball is another bleak 1970’s depiction of a totalitarian future society. This time around it’s a corporate controlled world where war has been outlawed. Rollerball even leaves the existence of the United States as we know it in doubt. Corporations and the Executives make all decisions… every decision. Whether you can remain married to your wife for instance. Even books are tightly controlled.
James Caan plays Jonathan… the superstar in a futuristic sport called Rollerball. He has learned the lessons of corporate rule in a very personal way. Despite being handsomely paid and living a life of luxury, he yearns for a simple life with the wife his corporate rulers have barred him from seeing. His arranged relationship with an exotic beauty who doubles as his corporate minder leaves him empty. And yet Jonathan finds himself conflicted. He finds his only joy in life when he’s on the Rollerball floor, the sport which keeps him prisoner to a life he doesn’t want to lead.
It is 2018 and Rollerball is the violent spectacle which fascinates millions and costs players their lives. Players on skates are paired with riders on motorcycles. Their arena is a circular track where they compete against foreign corporate teams in a race to put a metal ball the size of a shotput into a two foot goal. The record for deaths in a single game is nine. Fans around the world watch the games on multiple-monitor flatscreens which hang on the wall, applauding every violent act. John Houseman plays Bartholomew, the villainous CEO in control of Jonathan’s team and his life. When Jonathan’s worldwide popularity peaks, Bartholomew demands his retirement from the game.
No player is greater than the game itself.
Jonathan has become a threat.
After a single viewing, Rollerball can be easily compared with other science fiction flicks of the sixties and seventies like Soylent Green, Fahrenheit 451, and Planet of the Apes. After a couple of views it becomes apparent that Rollerball is actually superior in many respects. Portraying the mythology of an invented sport onscreen cannot be easy, but Rollerball director Norman Jewison pulls it off nicely. And if you can suspend your disbelief enough to buy the totalitarian nature of Rollerball’s society, the characters ring absolutely true in their words and actions. The hardest part to swallow is the overt nature of corporate control. It is an absolute contrast to movies of today, where corporations control our thoughts, minds, and purchasing habits from the shadows, many times without our knowledge. Every time I watch Rollerball, I wonder “Why wouldn’t everybody be revolting?” I mean, if Microsoft took over the world, we would all fight that, right? The gameplay sequences in Rollerball are excellent and are another reason I find this movie superior to others of the era… many of which seem to stretch on for hours without anything happening. Jewison takes advantage of exotic camera angles, tracking shots, and slow motion to dramatic effect.
One unfortunate misconception is a tendency by those unfamiliar with the movie to somehow confuse the game of “Rollerball” with the schlock sports-entertainment event roller derby. If you are unaware, the two are nothing alike with the exception of the skates and the shape of the track. One is a syndicated show for blondes who can’t find acting work, the other is an excellent science fiction movie.
In Rollerball, the questions abound–if you’re the biggest sports superstar in the world, do the rules really apply to you? Is a ‘Utopian’ society really Utopia? It should be noted that the 2002 re-make of Rollerball is absolutely horrendous and shares very little with the original aside from a title. Avoid it at all costs.
****Four Stars
Posted in 1975, Four Star Rating, The Future | No Comments »
October 7, 2008 - 3:22 am - Posted by Administrator
Not too long ago, I saw someone on a message board predicting that the People’s Democratic Republic of China would be the first country to successfully place a man on the surface of Mars and return him safely to Earth. An intriguing prediction to say the least. Milestones are falling like crazy in the Chinese space program… they’re spacewalking this year, and they’ll be docking two spacecraft in orbit in 2009. It took NASA three years from the first docking to the moon landing. And China’s progress is shockingly fast by comparison.
So if the Chinese dock by 2009, do their first moon flyby in 2010, then they’ll surely land on the moon within a year. The US space program isn’t scheduled to go back to the moon until 2018 at the earliest. So beginning in 2011, assuming the Chinese actually land on the moon by then, they’ll have nineteen years to parlay the experience into a manned mission to Mars with no worry of being beaten to the Red Planet by the United States… our earliest scheduled flights to Mars are in 2030.
Thanks to published details of a plan called “Mars Direct” by noted scientific maverick Bob Zubrin, the technology to go to Mars is a reality for any spacefaring nation with the will and the money. And China has both. Mars Direct calls for the Earth Return Vehicles to be sent to Mars autonomously, 26 months prior to the manned mission. The ERVs sit on the Martian surface for over two years, extracting gasses from the atmosphere and using them to manufacture the fuel for the return trip. When the astronauts finally set foot on Mars, they stay for 18 months. Total mission time for the astronauts is approximately three years.
The big benefit of the Mars Direct plan is the price. By breaking up the mission components into multiple launches, the development cost of designing new boosters is kept to a minimum. Furthermore, spacecraft that can manufacture their own fuel from Martian resources avoid the added weight of carrying ALL of their fuel with them. And with safety always the utmost concern, any astronaut would be slightly relieved to know their return vehicle is fully fueled and waiting for them on Mars before they even leave the Earth. Using the architecture of Zubrin’s plan, China could reasonably pull it off by 2024 to 2027 and take advantage of a natural conjunction in the orbits of Earth and Mars.
The upside I guess is we’ve already been to the Moon. Won that race. The American in me just doesn’t like to think about anybody getting to Mars before we do.
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August 23, 2008 - 4:51 am - Posted by Administrator
PBS’ Nova: Astrospies is a true story of space espionage that most have never heard. Despite my own ravenous consumption of anything space-oriented I confess, I hadn’t heard of it either.
At the dawn of the 1960’s, and as a direct result of the shootdown of Gary Francis Powers, the United States Air Force undertook a Cold War space project known as M.O.L. or Manned Orbiting Laboratory. Despite the scientific-sounding name, the real purpose of the MOL was to spy on the Soviet Union. A group of fourteen Air Force pilots were trained as astronauts and were only informed of their mission when they had passed their examination and selection processes.
In the era of Google Earth, it’s hard to imagine a time when live astronauts were required to take photos of Earth from orbit, but in 1960 the technology did not exist for an operator on the ground to take real-time photos with a camera orbiting on a satellite above. Either the satellite took the photos on it’s own–like Corona, the first US spy satellite, or an astronaut had to travel into orbit to take the photos. When Corona’s images were developed, the photos of strategic installations were sometimes obscured by clouds. Thus the choice was made to send astronauts into orbit to take reconnaisance photos.
In great detail, and featuring great animations taken from Air Force briefing films, Nova: Astrospies tells the story of MOL, and the Soviet Union’s competing program known as Almaz. It was in fact, a secret space race. Both programs were pursued in absolute secrecy, and included not only spying, but space warfare objectives which would be considered scandalous today. For instance a proposed objective of the US program was to test the feasibility of capturing a Soviet satellite and returning it to Earth for examination. The Soviets took it a step further and actually mounted a cannon on the Almaz.
By 1969 the MOL program was in the test-flight stage but years behind schedule. The delays had allowed another classified agency, The National Reconnaissance Office, to launch a competing program that would achieve the same goals without the need for a live astronaut. Six weeks before the Apollo 11 landing, MOL was cancelled unceremoniously without a single manned flight, ending America’s most secret space endeavour. The Soviet Almaz station continued until 1974 and actually launched spies into orbit. However the rapid development of video communications and photography eventually ended the Soviet Program as well.
Posted in Four Star Rating, TV Shows, reality scifi | No Comments »
August 12, 2008 - 1:43 am - Posted by Administrator
The fourth installment of the Terminator series, Terminator Salvation is presently scheduled to be released in the summer of 2009, pushed back from an original Christmas 2008 release date. If first appearances are any indication, this installment will be a whole new beginning for the Terminator series.
For the first time, John Connor [Christian Bale–Dark Knight, Reign of Fire] will be the star of the show. No Arnold. For the first time, the Terminator world will be post-apocalypse, not a present day teetering perilously close to the brink.
In the trailer John Connor’s voiceover says “This is not the future my mother warned me about.” I’m running on pure speculation here, but I believe he is making reference to a darker, more horrific vision of the Terminator universe. The trailer seems to insinuate that John (and most of humanity for that matter) is a prisoner in a Skynet prison. He must escape with a female companion–likely Bryce Dallas Howard in the role of Kate Connor first played by Claire Danes in Terminator 3. Together they must face a post-apocalyptic world which Sarah conveniently forgot to tell John about.
According to a blog entry by director McG at the Terminator Salvation website, Arnold Shwarzenegger and James Cameron have been consulted regarding their ideas for the future of the franchise, and Christian Bale is reportedly working on the story as well. According to Visual Effects Supervisor Charles Gibson, McG is attempting to incorporate elements of the horror style as well so viewers can expect this installment to be scarier. Anton Yelchin has been cast as a teenage Kyle Reese, and Sam Worthington as a character named Marcus Wright.
This edition of the Terminator series reportedly happens after Judgement Day, but prior to 2029–the date when Skynet starts producing the Arnold-model T-800. We’re promised our introduction to the bigger, nastier T-600–the cyborg Kyle Reese alluded to in the original Terminator movie when he talked about the early terminators which were easy to spot because they had rubber skin.
For Terminator fans who were never big on the cheese-and-one-liners dimension of the original Terminator films, this one seems to be a departure from that. Terminator Salvation will be a meaner, darker type of science fiction, more serious in tone and bleaker in texture. On the downside,there seems to be a rumor floating around that Terminator Salvation will get a PG-13 rating. Let’s hope not.
Posted in 2009, Artificial Intelligence, Environmental Disaster, Post-Apocalypse, Robots/Cyborgs, The Future, Time Travel, coming attractions | No Comments »
August 11, 2008 - 2:54 am - Posted by Administrator
At the turn of the millennium, we all felt like we were on the verge of something big. And we were… the dawn of a new era in science fiction. In 1999, The Matrix became the first movie to encapsulate the concept of cyber-punk virtual reality and display it in a slick motion picture geared for a broad audience. The natural downside of such a large audience is the audible murmur from too-hip-for-the-room haters, sci-fi purists, and nerds. However, The Matrix’s gigantic audience and box office totals don’t lie… it was the first movie of it’s kind.
The Matrix really became a coming-out party for the Wachowski Brothers as a directing duo, and the signature role Keanu Reeves was looking for when he starred in Johnny Mnemonic. Second time’s the charm I guess.
Torn from the pages of a comic, The Matrix is the story of Neo. He’s a corporate grunt in a nothing job with a one bedroom apartment. Or is he? Through a series of encounters with strangers, Neo (Reeves) is tempted to test the boundaries of the reality he’s been living. A choice - the blue pill or the red pill?
Neo’s choice leads him to an awakening that first-time viewers are not prepared for. I distinctly remember my roomate saying as we walked out of the theatre “Dude, when he woke up in that pod… I was not ready for that!”
The most-intriguing plot point of the Matrix storyline is that physics do not apply. When you’re immersed in a computer-generated world, anything is possible. And of course that point lends itself to a visually flashy and action-packed film. Bullets by the bucketful, martial arts up your ass. Carrie-Ann Moss co-stars as Trinity, a bad-ass chick in latex and Neo’s love interest. Laurence Fishburne is the guru–Morpheus, the man with the answers, and the cool shades.
Morpheus sends Neo on a sort of vision quest to fulfill his destiny. Much like the Star Wars series, the story touches on spiritual themes when Neo visits “The Oracle”. And his battles with Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith are some of the greatest fight scenes ever choreographed. Weaving’s speech patterns and teeth-baring grimace nearly steal the show.
Not since The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2) has a movie so singlehandedly defined it’s genre. The styles worn by the actors have saturated pop culture, the special effects have been mimicked but rarely equalled, and the concept of virtual reality or synthetic immersion has now been fully crystallized in the film-going consciousness.
***** Five Stars
Posted in 1999, Artificial Intelligence, Environmental Disaster, Five Star Rating, Post-Apocalypse, Robots/Cyborgs, The Future, Virtual Reality | No Comments »
March 22, 2008 - 8:44 pm - Posted by Administrator
Any movie where New York City is one huge ghost town is alright with me. However, I Am Legend feels like a re-write too many on a concept that’s nearly overdone at present–the concept that thinking, feeling humans have disappeared and the world is populated by mindless, blood-thirsty beasts, devoid of emotion and feeling.
Will Smith stars as Robert Neville, the last known survivor of a plague that began as a viral cure for cancer. In 2009, the plague nearly wipes out the human race. Neville is left as the lone remaining human in New York City, the rest of the inhabitants having been transformed into ‘zompires’ by the virus. OK, they’re not really called ‘zompires’ but they might as well be. I Am Legend’s screenplay was co-written by co-producer Akiva Goldsman–producer of such winners as Deep Blue Sea, Starsky and Hutch, and Poseidon. Goldsman’s screenplay was in turn based on a screenplay by John William Corrington for 1971’s Omega Man starring Charleton Heston, which was in turn based on the novel by Richard Matheson. Why the studio would decide to bring a classic science fiction novel to the big screen by borrowing from a badly-done version of the story from the seventies is beyond me. Perhaps it’s Goldsman’s penchant for lame remakes. Note to Goldsman: you’re standing on the shoulders of giants and ruining what they’ve achieved.
Couple the remake-prone producer Goldsman with a director [Francis Lawrence] whose only credits are music videos, and you’ve invited disaster. I look forward to the day when movie studios understand that classic science fiction stories need to be produced and directed by auteurs with singular uncompromised vision, not thrown together from fragments of screenplays and helmed by whomever happens to be free to direct/produce at the moment that fits the studio’s schedule. It’s about more than money.
Robert Neville spends his days in New York City hunting for food and having conversation with his only friend… his dog. He maintains a sense of normalcy by watching DVDs–one at a time–which he faithfully retrieves from a video store each day, talking to the mannequins he’s arranged in the store as if they were real humans. He has recorded a message which is repeatedly broadcast on the radio–a plea for anyone who hears it to meet him on the pier at midday. His wait for a response stretches into it’s third year, and Neville keeps busy by continuing his work as a biologist in his basement lab, working on a cure for the virus which has turned nearly six billion people into “darkseekers”–blood thirsty mutants with compulsively violent urges. They are powerfully allergic to light and stay inside in the day, coming out at night to feed on blood.
The problem with movies like I Am Legend is, there is only one reasonable outcome… the lone survivor of the apocalypse will eventually discover he’s not alone. Knowing that in advance, it can get pretty frustrating waiting for the other humans to show up when the story moves at a snail’s pace like this one does.
There are lots of great special effects, and the city of New York makes a great character, even when it’s empty, but the story just didn’t hook me. The computer-animated nature of the “darkseekers” gives a sense of artificiality to villains who would have been far scarier had they been more human. Neville’s flashbacks to his prior life are annoying as well. The whole movie I kept thinking they would have been better-served to have just told the flashback part of the story first, then progress to the post-apocalypse part of the story in linear fashion instead of flashing back and forth the whole time.
In the end, making this bad adaptation of Richard Matheson’s story only ensured one thing–that this story will eventually be adapted again. Let’s hope they get it right next time.
Posted in 2007, Pandemic, Post-Apocalypse, The Future, Two Star Rating | No Comments »
