Film: I Am Legend

I am Legend — (No spoilers)
I just may have altered my opinion of Wil Smith… just a bit.
I am just not a fan of Smith. His smarmy and egotistical attitude that carries over on all of his work… it’s just a turn off. But in this latest acting endeavour, I saw a side of a developing actor.
The movie was a fairly good one.
Based on the 1954 novel, it adapts nicely to a slightly futuristic time of an abandoned and isolated New York city. Smith plays a military scientist, who is striving to create a vaccine to combat the undead, a condition caused by a engineered virus that wipes out most of humanity.
The film does a good job in sharing the loneliness and desolation of being the only man in the city, and yet with all at his fingertips for the taking, he treats the city with respect and does not loot wantonly… but selectively and keeps things in order.
His survival is tolerated with the company of his loyal dog, who assists him in traveling the barren empty streets in search of food and supplies. The tight relationship and bond of man and his animal is touching.
The undead left me less than thrilled. They were all CGI, and the interactions of real person and animation did not convince me of the threat and struggles of the undead’s desire to consume flesh. There is a lead zombie, but we don’t know who he is and why he is in a alpha role, but anyway. Even with quick mobility and incredible strength, I wasn’t at all scared of the beasts, as I was in «Night of the Living Dead», (Which is loosely based on this novel), which were more realistic and horrifying.
The ending was weak and too pat… and ended with a whimper.
It was a good movie and glad to see Smith finally evolving, but it left me missing something and not satiated.
Chicago Astronomer Joe