I Am Legend is a perfect example of how CGI effects can make or break a movie. The story is the same as The Omega Man (never read the book, so can't compare that), with Will Smith playing a scientist who is the sole survivor of an outbreak that killed 95% of Earth's population and turned the rest into bloodthirsty creatures of the night. He spends his days foraging in the city and struggling to find a cure for the creatures, and his nights holed up in his swanky reinforced brownstone home/fortress.
The beginning of the film is actually fantastic. The abandoned Manhattan vistas are impressively realistic, and the scene where he hides in his home while the creatures make hideous noises outside is chilling. But when he first encounters the monsters, it all goes downhill. The scene leading up to the encounter is edge-of-your-seat fantastic, but at first sight of the CGI creature, the fear deflates. I'd thought they'd just be CGI during action sequences, but no, even when laying still, they're completely computer generated. So because the animation isn't realistic, and they don't always seem to have a physical presence in the real space, they just never seemed like much of a threat. I always thought, "Oh, well, there's not really anything banging against that glass."
It's a shame, because the beginning is terrific, and very effective. Will Smith delivers a really good performance, but unfortunately, without actual actors to work against, his face-offs with the creatures have very little power. It ends up being just an entertaining blockbuster action movie instead of what the beginning leads you to believe it could be. Oh well!
