The film «I am legend» is an action/science fiction movie directed by Francise Lawrence and published in 2007. It is based on the novel «I am legend» written by Richard Matheson, which was published in 1954. In the novel, a major part of the world´s population dies because of an extremely deadly virus. There are few survivours and many of those who are left have become mutants who kill for survivial. The novel has already been directed two times, in 1964 (The Last Man on Earth) and in 1971 (The Omega Man). The film is recorded in America and Will Smith is in the main role as lieutenant Robert Neville in New York. This film is made for people at the of the age 15 and older, because it contains some violent scenes and rough action.
In the opening scene we see an unsharp TV-screen and a female doctor in a TV - studio. This scene is made to inform the audience about what has happend in the past. The doctor is being interviewed and she says that she has found a cure for cancer and so far, 1000 cancer sick people has been treated. Then the scene changes and we see Robert Neville driving a red Mustang 500 through New York City which is empty of people, hunting deers. Suddenly he stops his car and tries to shoot one, but before he manages to do that a wild lion kills it. At this time you realize what the film is all about, a survival at Ground Cero in New York. After the opening credit I thought the film would be a good one, with both action and science fiction. It gave a good impression in the opening credits with both car driving and shooting.
The main character, Robert Neville, is introduced early in the movie. He is introduced while in his red Mustang 500 with a schaefer dog, called Sam, in the seat beside him. These two are the main characters in the movie. When I first saw Robert I thought he would be a man that wanted exitement by driving fast in the gates of New York. It seems like he is a trained killer, but he is also very calm and relaxed. Sam seems like a smart dog and Robert´s only friend. Robert´s problem is that he is completely alone with his dog in one of the world´s biggest cities. He also has some flashbacks throughout the whole film and before the virus was spread, he left his wife and daughter to find a cure against the virus in New York. Through the film Robert changes a lot. In the beginning he is calm and it seems like life is alright, but when he is challanged by mutants more often and doesn´t find a cure, he becomes more desperate. He is beginning to hallusinate and shoots around at wax people who seems real. It all ends with him trying to take his own life, but he is rescued by a woman and his son. Still, he remains his conscience and manages to use his brain before his hate. Will Smith is playing this role simply brilliantly and he fits perfectly into this role.
In this movie there is one main story, but there are also a few flashbacks where we meet Robert Neville and his family before the virus spreads. All the flashbacks are placed on strategial places in the film when there are big changes in the story. There are also some foreshadowing and an important one is when he manages to make a positive cure for a rat. The story is also told chronologically with a beginning, main part and an end. This makes the film structured and easy to follow. Many times there are suspense tops, but the most climax is at the end of the film, but I can´t say anything about it, because then I reveal the film.
Since «I am legend» is an action/sci-fi film, it is naturally to use many different camera angels when the excitement is high. Tricks like zooming and close-ups are often used in situations with a lot of action. These tricks are often used in this type of films, and the reason might be to highlight the situation or the person in a critical scene. In this movie the zooming and close-ups are mainly used in the situations I have mentioned, but they are also used in some calm and relaxed situations. This also applies to the use of colours and lights in the film. Often the colours are bright and there is a lot of contrasts. An example is Robert Neville´s red Mustang against the grey buildings in New York, or the brown deers. There are also a lot of black-white contrasts, since he some places in the movie has to go into dark buildings only with a small flashlight on his gun. Measures like this makes the film even more exiting and often the new scenes are unexpected.
Sound is also an important part of the film, but here there is almost no music. There is, of course, high and tense sounds in the action scenes, but still there is more talking and natural sounds than music. An example is when Robert is playing golf on a stranded harbour ship, and in the backgorund there is seagulls sounds, which describes his lonelyness. On the other hand there is one song that Robert plays all the time, and that is Bob Marley´s «Three Little Birds», which is a calm and relaxing song. This song makes him think about his familiy. Anyway, I think the experience of watching this movie would be better with more use of music to describe the setting even better.
The film has an open ending. In the end the the Lady and her son find a colony with healthy people and then the camera is closing out and show us a picture of the whole camp. Then a female voice says that this film is in honour of Robert Neville and that this movie is his legend. I think the filmmaker concludes with this image because he wants us to think about what difference only one man can do in a world of hopelessness. This also reflects the theme of the film, which is the battle between the good and the evil. Robert is the good one and the mutants are the evil. The film also has a clear message. This film is about one man saving mankind and I think the theme is courrage and greatness. I also believe that the director made this movie to show that there is always hope and he has also linked the theme perfectly to the title, a legend of a great man. Personally I think this movie is a good one with both action and sci-fi. Will Smith also plays the main role perfectly and that makes the impression of the film very good. I give the film dice 5.
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It is a big difference between how news are covered from country to country. And it is obvious that a happening covered by an English speaking media will reach other countries faster than something covered by a local newspaper. And because the medias job is to give news to the people, as fast as possible, and to as many as possible, English speaking media will be dominant in contrast to other languages, example Norwegian, Swedish, German etc.
