-Trevor Wallace
It was 9:30 on a Friday night and I had just gotten off of work. I walked next door to the movie theatre and said a brief hello to the guy behind the counter as I ordered one for I am Legend, mildly excited to see how the novel had been adapted after having loved reading it only a few weeks before. I stepped through the lobby and took a seat in the mostly empty theatre I was directed to. I stared at the screen for an hour and 40 minutes then walked out. The only problem was I still hadn’t seen a movie based on Richard Matheson’s novel, I am Legend.
The movie simply had nothing to do with the original book. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problems with a director making revisions and changes to a novel in order to properly adapt it to the film. Indeed, many of the changes were necessary. Since I am Legend focuses on the life and inner turmoil of Robert Neville, the only survivor of a plague which has turned everyone around him into vampires, changes were necessary in order to communicate his emotions and depression over his predicament without simply narrating his thoughts. This is done beautifully. In fact, Will Smith’s acting when speaking to manikins his character has set up around him was probably the best part of the film.
However, other changes merely detracted from the film. In a story which only has four essential characters to begin with, two are written out and one is drastically changed in every important way. Another character, Ethan, is written into the movie and given no lines despite remaining on screen for more than 20 minutes.
But the most important change is the ending. The last 30 minutes of the film have absolutely nothing to do with the original story. This is absolutely crucial. Richard Matheson, who also wrote several episodes for The Twilight Zone (He wrote the one where William Shatner freaks out on an airplane, if that means anything to you) is famous for his twist endings. Thus, by changing the ending, the novel’s theme was destroyed. Anyone who’s passed English or even seen an episode of The Twilight Zone should be able to tell you how important this is.
The last three pages of I am Legend were the most important part of the book. By drastically altering them, the novel’s twist, premise, and the entire point of the book for that matter, were changed. Even so, the movie was entertaining, well acted, and at certain points scared the crap out of me. So, was it a good movie? Yes. Was it I am Legend? No.