I saw I Am Legend last night. The reviews have been mixed, and I’ve read comments criticising the implausibility of the premise – if Will Smith is the only person in New York, where does the electricity come from?
But the film blew me away. Most SF movies are actually action movies, which are light on ideas, high on adrenalin. And this movie certainly delivers some great scary action sequences. But it’s also a very brave piece of storytelling. For long long periods Will Smith is the only human being on screen, talking to his dog, living in a New York which is a wasteland inhabited by antelope and lions. And the film captures, beautifully, his despair, alienation, and growing madness. The man is so damn lonely it breaks your heart.
For reasons you’ll discover when you see the film, New York is not a safe place to be in this (very near) future world. But though the Will Smith character is heroic and resourceful, he’s not an exaggerated ‘movie’ hero. When he gets hurt, it hurts. He does stupid things. He exudes vulnerability. This is not The Matrix, where archetypal characters perform impossible deeds; it’s an altogether more challenging piece of storytelling about a flawed and real central character. (And by the way, I love The Matrix!)
It made me think about the nature of the movie audience. We all know that Hollywood studios target their blockbuster at the 18-24 year old demographic; blockbuster movies are for ‘the kids’ (I have actually heard some producers use that phrase.) But as I recall (it’s a long time ago!!!!) that period from 18 to 24 is very intense, emotionally and intellectually. At that stage in our lives, most of us are asking questions about identity, we have moments of loneliness and angst, and we have a burning curiosity about life, and its meaning, and whether it has a meaning. (And okay, partying and sex and drink and slacking come into the equation too….) But my point is, teenagers, and 18-24 year olds, think, and they think a lot, and they like movies which make them think.
The success of I Am Legend has been attributed to Will Smith’s star power. And there’s certainly some truth in that. But I think it’s also successful because young audiences are up for seeing a movie which makes them imagine and then reflect on what it is like to be terribly, appallingly lonely.
The scenes of the desolate New York are superb. I was in Times Square very recently, so had a frisson at the scene where the antelope run past the poster of Legally Blonde.
I can’t for the life of me remember if I’ve seen the Richard Matheson novel on which this is based. I suspect not, so I’ll have to read it soon.
Answer to the question above, about the electricity: lots of buildings like hospitals have generators, so Will Smith must have installed a generator in his apartment block, fuelled by oil or some other easily available resource. The film doesn’t bother to explain or show this, because it’s a film – you can’t waste time explaining every little thing! By the same token, no one tells us the lions have escaped from the zoo – but we, the audience, are smart, and we figure it out.
Critics can be so annoying sometimes….
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I’m looking forward to this
I had a contest for tickets to the première on my blog a while back.
I’m also currently reading Wastelands, which is a very good collection of short stories, something I’m not normally that into. There’s an interesting comment by John Joseph Adams about the resurged interest in post-Apocalyptic fiction, it makes for good reading.
I haven’t read Matheson’s novel, either, supposed to be very good, though!
Best wishes,
Chris
The Book Swede
I’ve read about that book, it sounds very interesting. There’s a nice feature on it on Sci Fi Wire (http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire.....038;type=0)
I’ve just done an interview with John, also for Sci Fi Wire, which should be out soon.
Oh cool, I really don’t visit Sci Fi Wire enough! It’s a great site, too! I’ll look forward to the interview, and I’ll use a bit of that “after-Wastelands” info in my review!
Sorted! Congrats on being a (US) published author by the way!
Incidentally; nothing to do with my last thought, so no incidentally needed — I’ve just finished reading a very cool cosmology book by Marcus Chown, New Scientist guy, and some of the stuff he talks about reminded me very much of Debatable Space and other SF I’ve read lately, e.g. stuff by Philip Jose Farmer.
Talking about FTL travel, superstring theory, and a really cool hypothesis of non-Carbon based life — essentially, that weather, planets, fires, etc could be “alive”, sentient. Also a cool bit that stars could have been manufactured, and that one day we will be able to manufacture them. Not all theoretical physics though, a very good explanation of Einsteinian and Newtonian physics, and the modern work of Chaitin, etc
Best wishes,
~Chris
The Book Swede
I have the Richard Matheson novel, in a glriously pulp paperback edition I picked up in Fopp! Happy lend it in exchange for your Battlestart Galactica prequel.
And congratulations on being a proper published author!
That’s a deal, Edel! And thanks…
And incidentally, which is also not an incidentally, I’ll definitely read the Marcus Chown, Chris. I love mindbending ideas…
Hello again, Philip. I liked I am Legend too. Mind you, I saw it on a wet Thursday afternoon in Swiss Cottage when I was trying to kill time. It wasn’t on my list of Movies To See, so maybe low expectations helped. But it did what it said on the tin and was a LOT better than the appalling Silent Light I saw before Xmas.
By the way, didn’t Terry Gilliam put marauding lions and zoo animals in a deserted NYC in his Twelve Monkeys? Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, the upcoming Cloverfield – no wonder New Yorkers are jittery.
I think that’s why there are so many cops on the streets of New York – in case of aliens, monsters, lions, or Terry Gilliam.
PS For those who don’t yet know how scarily talented Simon is, type Simon Treves on the Search button above….
Hi phil decided to see if your book had come out yet… i’ll be ordering a copy soon! Good to see you at the writers guild thing. Are you doing any other appearances in the near future?
On to ‘I am legend’ – I think you may be missing the point about the electricity… i think the critics were using it as an *illustration* of their problem with the film. The real point is: no man is an island, we are social animals that depend on other people to make our world habitable, and that it would be almost impossible to survive for any length of time without other humans around.
Now,personally i’m prepared to forgive the naive, man-as-atomic-individual mindset necessary to engage with the start of the story – because it *is* a story, afterall, and the notion that we are each somehow complete individuals is an everyday and necessary illusion we are all familiar with. Indeed, the notion of a hero or protagonist depends on this atomist view of things… apart from in exceptional cases such as ‘it’s a wonderful life’.
anyway, that’s my 2 cents. i dont think the ccritics were being thick – just misguided!
by the way did you ever see teh omega man?old sixties version of same matheson story, i think…
Hi Ala
Great to hear from you…
I take your point about I AM LEGEND, but I still thnk some of the critics underpraised it. In fact I’ve just finished reading the novel (thanks for the loan, Edel!) and I love it. But I think the screenwriters were very smart in the changes they made, including some radical alterations to the Jeopardy (I won’t say more because it would be a spoiler) which make the film definitely science fiction not Urban Fantasy.
I’ve just been talking to a writer who recommends Omega Man – with Charlton Heston I think. I don’t think I’ve seen it.
Glad you enjoyed the Writers Guild thing. At that event, Ashley Pharaoh gave me some hints about story developments in WILD AT HEART, which are now playing out in the episodes – nice to have inside info!
My next public airing is in April, at Alt Fiction in Derby, where I’ll be on a panel, talking about this and that, including the art of script writing. If there’s anyone reading this who expects to be at the event, do drop in and introduce yourself!