Any film claiming to be a sci-fi action film usually fits into one of two distinct categories. They can be a gun-heavy gore fest or choose show some frightening vision of our future. It is pretty rare to see them blend together though. Francis Lawrence tried to accomplish this by having some very vicious CGI effects accompany Will Smith’s star power to make I Am Legend, a movie based off of Richard Matheson’s beloved and revolutionary sci-fi book. The product ended up a bit clunky, but it remains a good hour and forty minutes of good old-fashioned monster killing. Unfortunately, any hopes of this being the next philosophical masterpiece are ruined by Lawrence’s directorial mistakes.

The story is based around the well known scientist Robert Neville (Smith’s character) as he tries to save the last remaining shreds of humanity. Neville is living in New York. He is the only human left alive, possibly the last in the world, after a virus developed to cure cancer mutates and spreads. It kills most victims while turning the “lucky” ones into a monster similar to a vampire. Neville is immune to the effects of the virus and he now spends his life trying to use his blood to make a vaccine that could save the world. He is completely alone in his struggle and only has his pet dog, Sam, as a friend. Every day is now an endless cycle of hunting down the monsters, watching DVDs, and trying to live as normal a life as possible, until he has to defend his home at night.

I Am Legend is obviously a great film that just got trapped under the layers of subtext and basic themes concerning faith, the world, and the heroes it chooses. Matheson’s book is well suited to Hollywood (it has had two adaptations before this one) and its central theme about man trying to play God with nature, while a little over used today, is still something to be remembered today. But, Lawrence decided to focus too much on cheap action shots than on the philosophy. There are plenty of hints about The Infected getting smarter and scenes showing Neville slipping into complete madness, but these scenes aren’t properly fitted into what is essentially just another action film.

The one shining light is Smith’s performance. Will Smith has had plenty of experience in the sci-fi world. We should all know him from his performances in Independence Day and the somewhat less popular I,Robot. His acting this time around was very good in relation to the script. He does well in the film, which is especially difficult when most of the film is just a one-man show. In reality, he is one of the only A-list actors who could have adequately added warmth to Neville’s character while also pulling off the little moments of humour. His interactions with Sam could have easily been painful, but he manages to pull off the role of the American hero as well as anyone, except maybe the old classics of Tom Hanks. But the script acts as a huge limiter. He often isn’t able to fill out the role since all of the major scenes about Neville’s psychological meltdown are too short to have any real effect. Lawrence chose to focus on out of place action scenes instead of quality acting sequences that would have let Smith really shine.

The CGI effects are probably the biggest failure. The Infected are just your standard monster, looking light something out of Lord of The Rings. The problem is that they look so alien that they aren’t truly unnerving beyond the first shock. Screaming monsters may be enough to scare a child, but adults will probably find these ghouls to be unoriginal movie monsters. This is particularly sad when one looks at Smith’s performance and the endless possibilities that Matheson’s novel offered. Significant portions of the movie are just little nuances to add reality to Neville’s world (Watching a Shrek DVD, Reruns of Good Morning America, etc.), yet they decided to use CGI to the point that it destroyed any sense of reality that it established. A poor choice overall.

Even after all of this, there isn’t any question as to whether I Am Legend is worth the money. Smith shines and manages to make you laugh, cry, and smile at some good action scenes that make the whole trip worthwhile. You should love the special effects and the great shots of an abandoned New York, but they really missed out on an opportunity to play up the philosophical ideas. It is a step above the basic blockbuster, but it definitely won’t be remembered as anything more than another sci-fi action film.