I Am Legend? Really?
I finally had a chance to see I Am Legend, the movie version, and I have to say I was really surprised (and, just so you're aware, as I write this post, I will be giving spoilers out for both the book and the movie). I think it's a very interesting comparison, but also one that's a little difficult. Why? Well, they're really different...
Virus...or bacteria? Either way, get to a doctor...
Since my last post about the book, I've read a couple more Richard Matheson short stories. He's a horror writer, for the most part, although I Am Legend does have elements of science fiction as well. The Will Smith movie based off the book (and of the same name) has elements of both as well, but let me try my hand at lead lines for both works of art:
Movie: Lone surviving doctor fights off blood-hungry "night seekers" while trying to find a cure for them after a cancer virus turns patients into monsters.
Book: Lone surviving man fights off loneliness as he tries to discover what has turned the rest of the world into vampires and how he can use science to discover how crosses, garlic, stakes, and mirrors have an effect on his new neighbors.
At the heart of the book, Robert Neville is a normal guy struggling not to lose his mind. Will Smith's Robert Neville is experiencing the same thing, but there are no mentions of vampires (only a couple "night seeker" comments). In the book, the entire plot revolves around vampires. It involves, in a way, a creative essay taking common vampire myths and applying science to them.
Plot, Pacing, and People
Both stories (book and movie) create an excellent, chilling atmosphere. The book takes place in Inglewood, CA.-the movie in New York, NY. Either way, the silence, as they say, is deafening. The world is a very creepy place. For the sake of the audience, Will is given a dog to befriend him (so that he doesn't have to talk to himself). How cool would it have been, though, had Will been silent the entire first half of the movie?
The cast of characters is very different. In the book, Mr. Neville is completely alone with the vampires. His breakdown is one of loneliness (which he fights the entire book), complicated by glimmers of hope (he befriends a dog that becomes a vampire as well) and ultimately ending in his deception. There are "living vampires" (people that have the germ but who aren't dead) and then there are the undead.
In the movie, Will Smith has some mannequins and eventually some real human counterparts. But, here the movie is entirely different from the book. In both, the "infected" trick Robert. In the book, their deception runs very cold, hitting at Neville's ultimate desire for companionship. So, when they pull one over on our hero, it's crushing.
Will is tricked once, but it's not nearly as bad. Plus, Will gets bailed out of his loneliness. In the book, Robert Neville never finds a cure for his fear.
The Endings
I love the ending to the book. No ending is better than the last sentence. It's excellent (I'm not even going to tell you what it is - read it!). The plausibility of the living vampires being able to trick Neville is a little shaky, but I'll take it. What's cool, though, is that the book never bails out on the premise that Robert Neville is utterly alone. There's no hope. Mankind, as we know it, does not exist anymore. Which is what makes the last sentence so powerful.
As for the movie, there is hope. A lot of it. There's hope to go around. There's a cure, there are still living humans...it's quite uplifting. Both Robert Nevilles (Smith and book) end up being heroes, but for entirely different reasons. Smith because of his resilience and the cure that he discovered. Book Neville just because he's the last survivor.
Final Thoughts
I liked the movie. It was good, but I have to admit that I was disappointed. The book was better. I was expecting the book, which would have been awesome, but we didn't quite get that. I would encourage everybody who has seen the movie to check out the book. I think it's worth it. It's not the best story I've ever read by any means, but it's pretty darn good.
Any other thoughts?
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5 comments:
Here's one thing I found a bit strange about the movie. It felt like the writers kept planning on introducing another subplot involving the night seekers' society, but then they sort of forgot about it.
Neville's Assumption
Near the beginning, we get the following (paraphrased) journal entry from Neville: "Today a male exposed itself to sunlight, disregarding its detrimental effects. Total loss of human instincts is complete." This announcement is accompanied by dramatic pauses and a close-up. This is important.
Clue 1
What happened just before the previously-noted specimen stuck its head into the sunlight and roared angrily, allowing its face to be damaged? Neville had just captured another night seeker... and we later find out it was a female.
Clue 2
The night seekers reverse-engineer Neville's trap idea and use it on him. Successfully.
Clue 3
When Neville escapes from the trap, one of them calmly shows up with a couple of infected dogs in tow. On leashes (or something).
Clue 4
During the final sequence, one night seeker is obviously looked upon as the leader, as the others wait for his signals, make way for him, etc.
Somehow this all doesn't quite fit with Neville's view of things.
In fact, practically every interaction with the night seekers after Neville's dire announcement at the beginning seems to be building up to a "they're just like us" reveal (or something to that effect). But no. Zombie smacks plexiglas. Zombies go boom. Colony is real. Blood makes happy. People will prevail. Pullback is voice-overed. Neville is legend.
Nathan nails it!!!
I didn't go into specifics, but you just nailed the huge difference between the book and the movie. You are a savvy viewer, my friend.
Why?
Well, in the book, the whole plot twist is that the "living vampires" (those with the germs to make them a vampire, but they're not dead). Find out how to develop an immunity to light. Hence, Neville's Assumption.
The twist in the book? One of the vampires dresses up like human (using makeup) and infiltrates his home. She discovers why he's killing them, what he knows about the germ, and how he keeps his home defended.
We learn that there's a whole bunch of "living vampires" that want to take back their world from the undead vampires. Since Neville is killing both kinds of vampires (since they all want his blood), he's terrifying to them.
Once they know where he lives, they take him in. And, since Nathan was so savvy, I'm going to go ahead and reveal the ending.
Neville's imprisoned looking out at a bunch of living vampires who want him dead. They're all terrified of him as they're trying to build a new world and he's killing them. In the last paragraph, Neville takes a drug to kill himself and reflects on the fact that he is the only human left (who's going to die soon). As he thinks this, Matheson ends the movie with...
I Am Legend.
I think that may be the best last sentence of any story I've ever read...
Excellent work, Nathan. That's the kind of thought process that I love to hear, and that's actually why I write about writing, because I hope there are readers like you out there!
Ah, I mean, "Matheson ends the BOOK with..."
Huge mistake there... :)
Once again it is clear that nearly without exception, books are better than their movie counterparts.
Why? Well, here's what I think:
Books typically provide a better structure and more detail that gives us solid context for the worlds they create. Probably because of length and medium restrictions, movies don't have that freedom.
Also, I think screenwriters/adapters, directors, and producers sometimes try too hard to create a story that will "sell," in other words, that will please the largest audience group. The savvy movie connoisseur, however, usually wants something more substantial, more artful. The attentive viewer isn't easily fooled and wants to believe the story's creators have thought through everything, even if they don't tell us about all of it.
I've found whether I read the book first and then see the movie, or vice versa, I'm usually disappointed with the transition.
Good review. I can't imagine reading a book about blood thirsty vampire-like beings and it being really cool. I think the movie would have been cooler if it showed more of how this guy was all the sudden the only guy left.
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