I Am Legend

I saw this with Rose and Roz in the cinema over Christmas. An absolutely terrifying movie! But, in hindsight, an amazing movie. Robert Neville (Will Smith) is the last man on earth after a virus sweeps the planet killing most, leaving many people as “The Infected” or “Dark Seekers” (creatures with little intelligence who cannot stand light) and leaving Neville alive as someone who is immune.
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Warning: rest may contain spoilers.
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As with most movies that show a character get close to an animal, the animal dies – in this case Neville has to kill Sam when she gets infected after protecting him from infected dogs. I always hate these sort of scenes!
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Unusually for Hollywood this movie speaks positively about God – we see posters proclaiming “God still loves us” in the abandoned New York City. And Neville’s wife is seen praying over the family for protection.
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A female survivor also speaks of how God told her to come to New York and her arrival is just in time to save Neville’s life. Although Neville shouts “There is no God!” the woman protests God does have a plan, if only we listen.
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Later in the movie Neville realises the cure to the virus is literally “in the blood” of a female dark seeker he has managed to cure. He dies to save the female survivor and her son admitting that he is now listening to God. He dies as he collides with a group of dark seekers trying to attack the humans after failing to convince them that he can save them.
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These undercurrents are great. Salvation is echoed in Neville’s sacrifice. There is a lot of the movie to go through – a lot of it just shows Neville’s life as the “only survivor” in New York City. But it is a great movie.
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