I Am Legend (2007)

December 14, 2007

December 14, 2007

I Am Legend is a 2007 American post-apocalyptic action horror film directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich and starring Will Smith as US Army virologist Robert Neville. Loosely based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Richard Matheson, the film is set in New York City after a virus, which was originally created to cure cancer, has wiped out most of mankind, leaving Neville as the last human in New York City, other than nocturnal mutants. Neville is immune to the virus, and he works to develop a cure, while defending himself against the hostile mutants. It is the third feature-film adaptation of Matheson's novel following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man.

Warner Bros. began developing I Am Legend in 1994, and various actors and directors were attached to the project, though production was delayed due to budgetary concerns related to the script. Production began in 2006 in New York City, filming mainly on location in the city, including a $5 million scene at the Brooklyn Bridge.

I Am Legend was released on December 14, 2007, in the United States and Canada. It opened to the largest-ever box office (not adjusted for inflation) for a non-Christmas film released in the U.S. in December, and was the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2007, earning $256 million domestically and $329 million internationally for a total of $585 million. The film received generally positive reviews, with Smith's performance being singled out for praise, while criticism focused on its divergences from the novel, particularly the ending. In 2022, a sequel was revealed to be in development, with Smith set to reprise his role as Neville and co-produce the film with Michael B. Jordan, who will also have a starring role.

Storyline

In 2009, a genetically re-engineered measles virus, originally created as a "miracle cure for cancer", mutated into a lethal, highly pathogenic strain known as Krippin Virus (KV). KV has infected and killed 90% of the human population on Earth. Those that were not killed were turned into vampiric, albino, cannibalistic mutants called Darkseekers, who are extremely vulnerable to sunlight and roam at night, preying on the 1% of humans who have become naturally immune survivors.

Three years after the outbreak, in 2012, U.S. Army virologist LTC Robert Neville lives an isolated life in deserted Manhattan in a heavily fortified Washington Square Park home. Neville's daily routine includes experimenting on infected rats to find a cure for the virus, searching for food and supplies, and waiting each day for any survivors who might respond to his continuous recorded radio broadcasts, which instruct them to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport. Neville's only companion is his German Shepherd, Samantha (Sam), and to cope with his loneliness, he regularly "talks" to mannequins and the characters on film recordings from video stores. At night, he barricades himself with Sam inside to hide from the Darkseekers. Neville is haunted by memories of his wife, Zoe, and daughter, Marley, who died in a helicopter accident during the chaotic evacuation of Manhattan as the military was enforcing a quarantine of the island while Neville himself stayed behind with other military personnel.

One day, as Neville hunts a deer, Sam pursues it into a dark building. Neville cautiously goes in after her and locates the deer's carcass along with Sam, but discovers the building is infested with Darkseekers. Both escape unharmed and the attacking Darkseekers are killed by the sunlight. Neville finds a promising treatment derived from his own blood, so he sets a snare trap and captures a female Darkseeker. A male alpha Darkseeker attempts to pursue them, but is halted by the sunlight and returns to the shadows. Back in his laboratory in the basement of his house, Neville treats the female seemingly without success.

The next day, Neville notices "Fred", a mannequin usually at the local video store, positioned outside Grand Central Terminal, and shoots it in confusion. However, Neville realizes he is being watched by the Darkseekers from nearby buildings. As he approaches Fred, he is ensnared in a trap similar to the one he used to capture the female, and is rendered unconscious after hitting his head. By the time he wakes up, the sun is setting and he is attacked by infected dogs. Neville and Sam kill them, but Sam is bitten during the fight (dogs are immune to the airborne strain of the virus, but can be infected with a different strain through bites). Neville injects her with a strand of his serum, but when she shows signs of infection, Neville is forced to put her down by strangling her to death as she begins to turn. Heartbroken and driven by rage, Neville ventures out and deliberately attacks a group of Darkseekers the following night, before he is rescued by a pair of immune humans, Anna and a young boy named Ethan, who have traveled from Maryland after hearing his broadcast.

They transport the injured Neville back to his home, where Anna explains they survived the outbreak aboard a Red Cross evacuation ship from São Paulo, and are making their way to a survivors' camp in Bethel, Vermont. Neville argues no such survivors' camp exists. As he continues working to cure the female Darkseeker, Neville theorizes by lowering her body temperature with ice, he can increase the treatment's potency. The next night, a group of Darkseekers, who tracked Anna and Neville the night before, invade the house. Neville, Anna, and Ethan retreat into the basement laboratory, sealing themselves in with the female test subject.

As the Darkseekers attack the lab, discovering the last treatment was successful, Neville assesses the situation as the Darkseeker alpha male rams himself against a glass door to break in. Neville draws a vial of blood from the woman he cured, and gives it to Anna, before shutting Ethan and her inside a coal chute in the back of the lab. Neville then kills both himself and the attacking Darkseekers with a grenade, saving the cure.

The following day, Anna and Ethan arrive at the survivors' camp in Bethel, where they are greeted by military officers and other survivors before Anna hands them the cure. Anna narrates how Neville's efforts and sacrifices to save humanity ultimately became legend.

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