I Am Legend (movie review)
Some movies I watch to be entertained. Some I watch to make me think. Some I watch to make me stop thinking. Some I watch because they entertain by being relevant in an intelligent, or maybe just analogy provoking artsy way.
I Am Legend isn't the sort of movie I can watch often... but it's in that group of movies that shares the characteristic of thematic elements that you, the watcher, can take and read out and/or in your own ideas.
An example of this in the film would be when another survivor implies the possibility that God caused the epidemic, to which Neville (the main character played by Will Smith) responds, "God didn't cause this, we did." It's easy for me as a believer to instantly relate that to Adam and Eve, and why/how sin and evil and suffering exist.
There are several such scenes where easy analogies and relevant ideas pop up throughout I Am Legend, but I leave such controversial parts for you to think through yourself. Many times it's better that way.
As a second point, I also appreciate how a movie can be made scary, without any girl scenes, without gore for the sake of gore, and without excessive language. It's a horror movie. I wouldn't label it an extreme in that category, but it does a good job of keeping the watcher rooted in the knowledge that danger lurks somewhere, you just can't see it right now. Violent fracture of uneasy solitude is the suspense factor.
Is it tame for a horror movie? Probably. All the others I've looked at sound stupid and disgusting though. Tame in comparison to other "horror" movies does not mean tame as in watchable by everyone though. I love the movie and certainly recommend it, but you should definitely consider what it is you're looking for in a movie before watching I Am Legend.
As a last note, I'd love recommendations of other horror films you find particularly good... they are hard to find! :-)
I Am Legend isn't the sort of movie I can watch often... but it's in that group of movies that shares the characteristic of thematic elements that you, the watcher, can take and read out and/or in your own ideas.
An example of this in the film would be when another survivor implies the possibility that God caused the epidemic, to which Neville (the main character played by Will Smith) responds, "God didn't cause this, we did." It's easy for me as a believer to instantly relate that to Adam and Eve, and why/how sin and evil and suffering exist.
There are several such scenes where easy analogies and relevant ideas pop up throughout I Am Legend, but I leave such controversial parts for you to think through yourself. Many times it's better that way.
As a second point, I also appreciate how a movie can be made scary, without any girl scenes, without gore for the sake of gore, and without excessive language. It's a horror movie. I wouldn't label it an extreme in that category, but it does a good job of keeping the watcher rooted in the knowledge that danger lurks somewhere, you just can't see it right now. Violent fracture of uneasy solitude is the suspense factor.
Is it tame for a horror movie? Probably. All the others I've looked at sound stupid and disgusting though. Tame in comparison to other "horror" movies does not mean tame as in watchable by everyone though. I love the movie and certainly recommend it, but you should definitely consider what it is you're looking for in a movie before watching I Am Legend.
As a last note, I'd love recommendations of other horror films you find particularly good... they are hard to find! :-)
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