December 20, 2022
'I Am Legend'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Van Lathan are survivors living in New York City, and they will be at the South Street Seaport everyday at midday to rewatch the 2007 postapocalyptic action thriller 'I Am Legend' starring Will Smith and Alice Braga.
Notes
- Budget of $150 million, grossed $585 million worldwide.
- Based on the 1954 Richard Matheson novel, previously adapted as The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man with Charlton Heston.
- Warner Brothers originally developed the film with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ridley Scott directing in 1998, but the budget got too high.
- In 2002, Michael Bay was supposed to direct Will Smith, but they decided to make 'Bad Boys' 2 instead.
- Guillermo del Toro was Will Smith's first choice to direct in 2007, but del Toro made Hellboy 2 instead, leading to Francis Lawrence.
- The studio spent an estimated $5 million for the six-night shoot in New York City, including the Brooklyn Bridge sequence.
- Director Francis Lawrence was inspired by watching The Pianist with the sound off so he wouldn't wake a sleeping baby – that's why the film has minimal music.
- They used real humans (mimes/actors) to play some of the mannequins, with slight movements to unsettle the audience.
- The Dark Seekers were originally done with practical 'Thriller'-style makeup, but the filmmakers switched to CGI.
- Will Smith loved the dog (real name Abby) so much that he tried to adopt her after filming, but the trainer refused.
- The film predicted a 'Batman' vs. Superman billboard in Times Square (the movie came out in 2016), $6 gas prices, and a pandemic wiping out civilization.
- Will Smith was disappointed the film didn't make $80 million opening weekend – it made $75 million, the biggest December opening ever at the time.
- A sequel was announced in March 2022 with Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan, with Akiva Goldsman returning to write.
Categories
Roger Ebert's review
Quote from Rog's review:
“It works well enough while Smith is alone. I am Legend is a much better movie than the earlier two, but maybe not better than the novella.”
Ebert liked similar things the hosts liked: the Will Smith performance and the 'how did they do that' aspects of the movie.
Most re-watchable scene
- Bill: The hanging upside down / mannequin Fred trap sequence – 'one of the best six-minute action scenes of this century'.
- Van: The monologue where Neville gives Anna the raw stats on the virus – 'the finest monologue of Will Smith's career'.
- The opening deer chase through empty New York City with lions.
- Sam running into the dark building and discovering the circle of huddled Dark Seekers.
- Will tries to mow down zombies in his car after Sam's death.
- The Bob Marley speech: 'He believed you could cure racism and hate by injecting music and love into people's lives'.
What aged the best?
- Van: The movie predicting the future multiple times – 'Batman' vs. Superman billboard, $6 gas prices, and the pandemic premise post-COVID.
- Bill: Watching this post-COVID is a completely different, better experience. 'If you're doing positives of COVID, which is the shortest list ever, it's like 'I Am Legend' is 20% better now.'
- Sam the dog as best co-star.
- The Brooklyn Bridge collapse – advanced CGI for 2007.
What aged the worst?
- Bill: The CGI Dark Seeker faces – 'the more you get to know them, the less scary they are.' The original plan was practical makeup but they switched to CGI, which was a mistake.
- Blockbuster Video appearing in the film.
- Matt Lauer appearing on the Today Show clips.
Weak link of the movie
- Van: Ethan (the child character) – 'No place for children in this movie. Ethan brought nothing to the table.'
- The Anna character doesn't work – she 'offers nothing except for hope.' The last half hour when Anna and Ethan show up is the worst part of the movie.
The hottest take award
- Van: This is Will Smith's best acting performance, even though he won Best Actor for King Richard.
- Bill: This movie is twice as good after we went through COVID.
Over-acting award
- Will Smith – 'Every single person that you or I has ever known is dead. Dead.' Van argues it's not overacting: 'He was a powder keg waiting to explode.'
- Van: Sam the dog – 'Fucking ham.'
Best "heat check" performance
Bill: Dash Mihok as the Alpha Male Dark Seeker – 'Great job looking scary.'
Casting what-ifs
- Arnold Schwarzenegger with Ridley Scott directing (1998 version).
- Nicolas Cage came in during 1998 – Bill: 'That's interesting. That works. 98 Nick Cage, great era for him.'
- Michael Bay was supposed to direct the Will Smith version in 2002.
- Guillermo del Toro was Will Smith's first choice to direct in 2007.
Re-casting couch
The Anna character needs a more badass replacement – Bill suggests Michelle Rodriguez or Sanaa Lathan.
Half-assed (internet) research
- The mannequins were played by real humans (mimes/actors) who moved slightly to unsettle the audience.
- Francis Lawrence was inspired to use minimal music after watching The Pianist with the sound off.
- The studio spent $5 million for the six-night New York City shoot.
- Popular Mechanics wrote a 2007 essay picking apart the film's scientific inaccuracies.
Apex Mountain
- Will Smith – Bill and Van agree it's Hitch, not this.
- Apocalypse movies with a post-COVID bent – 'way up there'.
Picking nits
- What are the Dark Seekers doing at night? Just roaming around and eating?
- Popular Mechanics nits: streets would flood constantly, lightning would cause building fires, roaches and rats would go extinct without humans.
- Van: Why didn't Neville just put Sam in a cage instead of strangling him? 'You got cages.'
Sequel, prequel, prestige TV or untouchable?
Bill: 10-episode prestige TV series on Amazon. Start with the virus creation, bring in COVID parallels and a Dr. Fauci character, and blow out the whole pandemic timeline across a season.
(Probably) unanswerable questions
- Where did Neville get time-coded copies of the NBC Today Show? Did he break into 30 Rock?
- How does Neville not die of CTE? He has two major concussions where he's knocked out for hours.
- Who is going to synthesize the cure blood at the commune? Van: 'If Fauci doesn't live in this village, there's nothing you can do with that.'
Best double feature for this movie
- Options: 'Cast Away', iRobot, or Vanilla Sky (for the empty New York combo).
- Van picks Vanilla Sky.
What memorabilia would you want (or not want!) from the movie?
Van: The Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 from the opening chase.
Best (or worst!) life lessons from the movie
- Don't fuck around when you're the last person on earth – stay disciplined.
- Put Sam on a leash so he can't run into dark buildings.
- Don't trust Emma Thompson if she has a measles vaccine / cancer cure.
Who won the movie?
Will Smith. 'Damn, Will. Will's fine. Will's okay. The library's fine. We're fine.'