SCI-FI ACTION; 1hr 40min
STARRING: Will Smith, Alice Braga
Best friend: Smith
The third movie adaptation of Richard Matheson’s pioneering 1954 sci-fi novel puts a solitary Smith, as virologist Dr Robert Neville, in a deserted New York City of 2012. He is the last sane man standing — in NYC and for all he knows, the entire world — after a man-made virus designed to cure cancer became airborne three years prior, either killing everybody or sending them nuts. The infected survivors are cannibalistic beasts: not a pretty picture. To redress the deathly balance, Robert needs to find a cure from his own unaffected blood.
There are obvious echoes of 28 Days Later and its zombie ilk, except that Matheson’s novel came way earlier. To me, the tone here is both reminiscent of 2000’s Cast Away and its own horrifying creation. Like Tom Hanks on his island, the burden on Smith is extreme. He does a great, robust job as a tragic-action hero and under the direction of Francis Lawrence (Constantine), Legend is an overwhelming vision of mankind at its basest and most brave.
