Abandoned Insanity

A film of Will Smith alone with a dog. So if you don’t like Will Smith, you should probably stay clear of I Am Legend. That being said, I thought he did a fine job as the last man on the planet. It can’t be easy shooting scenes without any human interaction. That made for some funny and touching scenes, because his character set up a bunch of mannequins at a local video store for him to ‘talk’ to on a daily basis. And as a supporting character, the dog was fantastic, getting all the emotion from an audience you could hope for. The story starts off very quickly. It goes from a woman doctor announcing the cure for cancer to a spectacular shot of a completely abandoned New York City. The New York visuals were arguably the best things about the film. It was amazing to see a city that normally has millions of people wandering around, reduced to nothing. The streets were filled with roaming animals. Grass grew seemingly everywhere. Neville, in his three years alone, was able to go from house to house, looking for supplies. He had done a good job with his own house, setting up generators to power everything he could ever want. All in all, I was impressed with the job the film crew did to make New York empty.

But the movie isn’t all fun and games. The dark seekers are some creepy people and they’ll pop out at you when you most expect it, which doesn’t reduce the scares at all. They looked mostly CGI, but every one of them seems to have a credit on IMDB, which makes me wonder if I just couldn’t see them clearly. I wasn’t completely impressed with the creature effects so that took away from my enjoyment of the film a little. There was also never any real explanation of how a cure for cancer turned into a killer virus. I guess it was just one of those things we’re supposed to accept. But considering one of the main story elements was Neville trying to find a cure, it would have been nice to maybe hear some science. The movie (without closing credits) was only around 91 minutes, so there was certainly time to throw in some more exposition. We do get to see flashbacks to what took place when people realized the virus was killing people, so there is some back story, but I could have used some more.

The action sequences were fast and intense and rather scary. More than once I saw the audience jump out of their seats. There’s no question this movie can scare you. It will also make you laugh and make you cry. So from that perspective, the movie has a little bit of everything. But in the end, the movie rests on the large shoulders of Will Smith. I know about 10 years ago this movie almost got made with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead. I can’t say it would have been a bad movie, but it would have been different. Schwarzenegger’s version of the film would have likely been more action heavy. Will Smith on the other hand is a very likeable actor so they use his ability to bring emotion out of every scene to make a film that was dramatic as well as having a lot of action. I can’t honestly think of another actor right now that could have pulled the role off as well.

THE BOTTOM LINE

So overall, I enjoyed I Am Legend. I may have liked it more because of where I was when I saw it, but upon reflection it still holds up pretty well. There were some things I would have liked to have understood more, but from a pure moviegoing experience, this one is worth seeing.

The original National Treasure was a lot of fun mainly because it wasn’t expected to be fun. It was a surprise hit that many people enjoyed even if they won’t admit it. Book of Secrets was fun, but the movie lost its originality so it didn’t have the same feel. I did like the idea that the time in between films wasn’t spent with all the main characters off having fun and living the perfect life. Having marital and IRS problems was a nice touch. Diane Kruger has only gotten more attractive over the last couple of years, while Nicolas Cage looks like his hairline has been painted on. But getting the band back together was a good idea because they all work well with each other. Adding Helen Mirren as Patrick’s wife (and Ben’s mom) was an inspired touch because she’s one of the last people you’d expect to see going off on a treasure hunt. It was like seeing friends after a long time apart.The story wasn’t anything all that new. In the first movie they were going after the greatest treasure known to man. In this movie, they were going after… the greatest treasure known to man. In the first movie, there are all sort of historical clues/questions that need to be answered before you get to the final location where there’s a huge action sequence and the discovery. Same thing this time around. The stakes are raised somewhat in Book of Secrets if only because they have to kidnap the President to get some information, but for the most part the plots are pretty similar. There was one major difference, and that was in the bad guy.

In the original, Sean Bean was the bad guy who was out specifically to find treasure. He was in it for the money and he let everyone know it. He didn’t mind killing people if he had to and was a pretty, well, bad guy. In Book of Secrets, Ed Harris plays the bad guy. He’s the one who comes out of the woodwork with the accusation that Thomas Gates was a traitor. He trails the Gates family as they run around the world trying to figure out the clues. He’s willing to hurt people if necessary to find the treasure. Except… when the time comes to reveal why he did all of that, there is no explanation. At least nothing worthwhile. The entire movie builds up to a finale and you expect some major revelation as to why this guy would go through all this trouble and we’re left with the flimsiest of reasons. I kept waiting for someone to say something worthwhile but there was nothing.

That being said, the action piece at the end was very well done. The Balance Cave (you’ll understand when you see the movie) was rather inspired, and the ultimate reveal at the end was pretty spectacular. I thought the historical clues angle wasn’t as strong as before, but was still somewhat interesting. The car chase through the streets of London was very well done. And as I said before, the cast worked well together and seemed to enjoy being back on the hunt. And, unlike the original, this one has the makings of a sequel built right in, and it has to do with the infamous Book of Secrets.

So overall, I enjoyed National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It lost some of its originality, with the story being mostly a rehash of the first film, and the villain being less villainous. But it was still an entertaining ride with some exciting sequences and a group of actors who looked like they were just having fun.