So this is a tricky movie to review because for the first 2 thirds of its length, its really quite good. I wanted to like it but the ending negates all the things I liked about it. Anyway, first the good news.
Its 2012 and everyone is either dead or some kind of mindless vampire and it's all Emma Thompson's fault! Will Smith isn't dead or a vampire and we first meet him as he's hunting for deer with a high powered assault rifle in a sports car. Haha, Will Smith: American Caveman.
I'm a fan of Apocalyptic imagery - the mushroom cloud, the ruined city - that shit is my Mona Lisa, bitch! So I really got off on the bleak Manhattan in this film. Abandoned cars jam the streets and some buildings are draped in tattered plastic covers stamped with the biohazard symbol.
We're introduced to Will Smiths daily life as the last surviving human, he goes on raids of apartments to find supplies and equipment, hunts for food and broadcasts his distress signal. In one scene we see that petrol cost $6 a gallon before the crisis...or maybe because of it?
The story of where he got his dog and what happened to his family is told in flashback. As they are trying to leave the city before the roads are closed there are scenes of mass panic and chaos that echo war of the worlds. The army is scanning people's eyes before they let them out, checking who may or may not have the virus. A woman whose eyes are bleeding begs anyone to take her healthy daughter, in a matter of minutes she will succumb to madness and devour those around her. These scenes have an effect. It works because it's believable, we understand this kind of thing, we anticipate it because we live in The Age of Fear.
At first the only problem I had was with Will Smith's character of Robert Neville. He's in tremendous physical shape, surprisingly mentally healthy (given his 1000 days of solitude), got all the skills and know-how in the world, he's immune to the virus and he's a genius scientist. It seems his only weakness is that he's Too Legit To Quit.
But that pales in comparison to the tsunami of bullshit that is the last 3rd of the film. Enter Anna. She's a survivor too and she wants to tell you about her lord and saviour Jesus Christ. First of all Will Smith's reaction to finally meeting another human is stupid "no! I want to remain alone!" fuck off, why were you talking to mannequins then? And secondly, you'd think that after everyone is dead and vampires inherit the earth, one would give up on the whole Jesus trip. Not Anna!
Like war of the worlds before it, the film builds a compelling, credible nightmare scenario that can't be won and then chickens out and tacks on a happy ending that makes no sense and is jarring given what preceded it. Will Smith suddenly gets born again and says "I can save you! I can save you!"('re immortal soul from sin! Praise Jesus!) and I'm left with the ashes of a good story slipping through my fingers, crying about what could have been.
Note to Hollywood: Hope is so last century.
VERDICT: Initially promising but then it shows its true colours. Bad.
1 comments:
He see's a butterfly tattoo and realises it's a sign because his daughter once mentioned a butterfly? Please.
And you didn't mentioned the crap CGI. If the bad guy had been a real person instead of a cartoon character maybe he would have been scary.
The actual ending reminded me too much of the much better Children of Men.
But I do want to see the Batman/Superman movie that was being advertised in Times Square.
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