For an avid fan of Richard Matheson’s novella, I Am Legend, the movie (also I Am Legend) starring Will Smith, is almost sure to disappoint. As Wikipedia put it, the movie was about as “loosely based on the novel” as it can possibly be.
I Am Legend is the story of Robert Neville living on his own in a world riddled with monsters (vampires or zombies). His wife and daughter have already perished and now he lives a bland existence of (studying or killing) the creatures. As loneliness starts overcoming him, he gets more and more depressed, using alcohol abuse and loud music to drown out his sorrows.
Some of the changes aren’t very noticeable such as the setting change from Los Angeles to New York City. In the book, Robert Neville is the lone survivor of a vampire pandemic. In the movie, Robert Neville is a scientist in a world riddled with zombies and there are still 15,000 survivors. The book’s about vampires so it only makes sense to make a movie adaption about zombies, right?
What is I Am Legend? The book answers this in a scene of dramatic irony when Neville finally realizes that he is now the monster. The movie adaption chose to not answer this question. Instead, the world is saved and the audience is left with a shallow Hollywood ending.
Article By: Cara Loehding
