Director: Francis Lawrence
Main Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga
Release Date: December 2007
Runtime: 101 minutes
Certification: 15

Overall Rating: 7.5/10
Review Date: 29.12.2007

After catching the trailers for this film earlier this year, I have to admit this was a movie that I couldn’t wait to see. And for the first hour or so, Will Smith’s stunning performance was a joy to watch.

The premise of the film is that Robert Neville (played by Will Smith) is, he thinks, the sole-survivor of a world-dominating virus created by man that takes out most of the world’s population in 2009 after being initially designed to cure cancer. The people who have not been killed have instead been turned into infected mutants, and as the last man in New York (and possibly the world) Neville tries to find a cure to reverse this effect and restore the human race.

As these mutant beings can only come out at in darkness (as they are sensitive to daylight), Robert Neville finds himself roaming the streets alone and trying to find a cure during the day and then seeking refuge during the night.

So the first 65/70 minutes is the story of a man who has been living in solitude for the last 3 years, with his only companion Samantha, a loyal German Shepherd. Will Smith manages to pull out an outstanding performance here as he struggles with life without any human contact and the characters desperation to keep fighting on to find a solution for this virus.

The film does a wonderful job of building up the suspense for the final part of the movie, which includes flashbacks to the last days leading up to the disaster. Not many actors can be so good to watch when they are literally by themselves for over an hour, which is a testament to Will Smith’s outstanding performance in the film. He takes you through the journey of loneliness and bitterness experienced by Robert Neville making the character truly believable, as well as making you understand what the last 3 years have been all about.

But unfortunately after 70 minutes the movie almost ruins all the excellent acting by Will Smith. There are two other characters introduced to the film, which almost seems completely random and nearly discounts the entertaining and enthralling first hour.

A woman (Alice Braga) and her son arrive just in time to save Will Smith from almost certain death at the hands of the mutants. There are just far too many questions the viewer will have after this and at this point the ending of the film does seem a little rushed.

When the film finished with the Hollywood ending you could sense around the cinema that people were left with a feeling of almost emptiness with the conclusion, since the build up to it was portrayed magnificently by Will Smith.

But having time to reflect on the finish to the film a day later, you would say it did probably make sense. Plus it is different to the book so people won’t be expecting any particular ending. But I think what most people seeing this film will have a problem with is the pace set through the first two thirds of the movie and then the almost harried nature of the ending.

Overall, an excellent film for the first 70 minutes and a great performance by Will Smith. If you are fan of his then this film is definitely worth seeing, and if you are not then it’s still worth a viewing anyway.