Comparing Films

Recently released in the UK is Will Smith’s new movie ‘I Am Legend’. Based on the book ‘I Am legend’ was written by Richard Matheson, it is a remake of the 1971 epic ‘The Omega Man’.

Will Smith was born Willard Christopher Smith on September 25 1968 in Philadelphia. He is a family man, successful actor and singer/rapper, first appearing as William Smith in the American TV Series ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air’ and having a double act in the music business doing hip/hop as The Fresh Prince with Jazzy Jeff. He then went on to have a solo career as Will Smith and acting in multi-million dollar movies like Men in Black and Hitch. He has also acted with his son Jaden Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness. His Wife Jada Pinkett Smith has also appeared alongside him in Ali. As with the rest of Will Smiths films, Independence Day, Pursuit of Happyness and Bad Boys, I Am Legend has been hyped up and predicted to do well at the Box office.

The Film is about a cure for cancer that goes wrong, most of the population die and 5.2 million are turned into some sort of mutant. The last man on earth is played by leading actor Will Smith, who as well as finding a cure for the disease, is also fighting to stay alive. With his only companion being a dog, life is quite lonely, and there is not much dialogue in the first part of the film. I think this is a good idea that there is not much dialogue because it makes you realise how lonely it would be to be the last person. Compared to other films by Smith, this is a very different role for him to be playing because normally he is quite the motor mouth and swears a lot. The only talking that there is if he is talking to his dog, and he sings ‘Bob Marley – Three Little Birds’ quite a bit which I enjoyed because I like the song, and it sort of adds to the humour of the film.

Will Smith who plays ‘Robert Neville’ who is a corporal and scientist, who is immune to the disease, this is why he is the only person left in New York. The ‘infected’ humans are harmed by the UV rays from the sun, which means they can only come out at night. Robert (Smith) sends a radio message out saying to any survivors that he will be waiting at the end of the harbour every day when the sun is at its highest. During the day he exercises, hunts for food, waits at the end of the harbour and prepares for the night ahead. This is good because we don’t get any thing just thrown in to make up for extra minutes in the film; it just shows the important stuff you would need to do to stay alive. One day when they are hunting, Sam (his dog) chases a deer into a dark building, Robert (Smith) starts worrying and calls him to come back because he knows there are ‘infected’ in there. But none the less he follows him in. This scene really made you sit on the edge of your seat because you were asking yourself if he would find Sam alive or half eaten. Once up the stairs he sees some of them standing in the corner, he turns his torch off and finds Sam. But it’s too late; they get noticed and have to run for their lives to get out. Once outside they know they are safe because of the sunlight. Smith sets a trap to capture one of them and waits. A bit later on we hear a noise and know one has been caught in the trap. Smith carries it back to his house and injects the vaccine into it. We never really get told how he made the vaccine; we just know that he has been working on it and has had many failed attempts. This was quite disappointing seeing as it’s what the whole film is really about.

Will Smith’s loneliness in the film is shown quite clearly. He daily goes to the DVD rent shop and has placed mannequins around for him to talk to. This sounds abit strange, but I think it has been done to make you laugh because he is telling Sam about one of the female ones and that he is to shy to talk to her. Later on in the film he is driving along and notices ‘Fred’, one of the mannequins, which has moved by itself. When you first see Fred on the street his head moves slightly, which makes you wonder if Will Smith is actually seeing him as a real person or not. But it turns out to be a trap anyway which knocks Smith unconscious until dusk. When it starts to get darker, the infected human who we believe to be the leader unleashes three hounds. With just a thin line of daylight between three infected hounds and an injured Robert Neville (Smith), the tension builds and you are shouting at the screen for him to make it to the car. This is one of the best scenes in the film, Smith and his Dog, Sam, have to fight these three dogs, which leads to Sam being bitten and becoming infected. When they’re back at the house Smith gives Sam vaccine but it’s too late and Sam tries to bite him but Smith holds him down and the dog dies in his arms. It is a very sad part of the film because now Robert Neville is literally all alone.

After the death of his only companion, Smith gets angry and goes on a killing spree. Obviously you are hoping that he finishes the job but when his car turns over and you think it’s the end for Smith, we are introduced to two new characters, Anna (Alice Braga) and her son Ethan (Charlie Tahan), which saves his life. They are also survivors, and have not been infected. They heard the radio signal and were waiting for Neville (Smith), but of course he never came because he was unconscious, so they were still there. Back at the house when Smith wakes up he is scared of his new guests because he doesn’t believe that anyone is alive. The woman explains that they are heading to a refugee camp which Smith also doesn’t believe exists. This is quite confusing for fans of the book because in the book it is all a plan to capture Robert, but in the film its not.

The next night we discover that the ‘infected’ followed them back and now know where he lives. Smith, having lots of free time on his hands, has planted bombs in the street opposite his house, so when they are coming he sets the bombs off and they blow up a few of the infected. But many of them still manage to enter the house like a swarm of bees. The three of them, Robert, Anna and Ethan run to the basement, which is where Robert has been experimenting on the infected trying to cure them. They get behind a thick glass screen, which is where he has kept some of the infected whilst he has been experimenting on them. The one he previously caught is still there, and Anna notices that she has turned back to human but is still dead. Smith takes a sample of the blood and gives it to Anna and tells them to crawl in a little hole, a shelter that he has made. He then removes a grenade from the drawer and when the infected one we believe to be the leader, brakes through the glass, Smith runs into him and explodes the grenade. He does this to protect the cure. The screen turns black and the next scene is Anna and Ethan arriving at the gates to the refuge.

With some action scenes, moments of humour, heroic scenes, touching moments and a remarkable performance by Will Smith, I defiantly declare ‘I Am Legend’ a must see film. If you have previously read the book, I’m not sure if you would be too fond of the film because there are many major bits that are different and you may be disappointed. I enjoyed both the film and the book, but once realising that they are different I looked at them both as completely different stories.

P.S. I Love You

Also released at the beginning of the year was the film ‘P.S. I Love You’, starring Gerard Butler, who played the phantom in ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and King Leonidas in 300, and Hilary Swank who has appeared in films like ‘The Gift’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby’. Based on the novel ‘P.S. I Love You’, the film is about a mid thirties couple who have been married for about 10 years. After Gerard Butler, who plays husband Gerry Kennedy, dies from a brain tumour, Holly Kennedy (played by Hillary Swank) starts receiving letters that have been written by Gerry before her died.

The Film starts with the couple entering their apartment arguing. It seems that at a party, Gerry said that Holly doesn’t want to have children, but he was wrong and the opening scene is them arguing about it. This then leads to them arguing about whether Gerry should leave or not. They both storm off, Holly into the bedroom, and Gerry out the apartment. 10 seconds later they returned to the scene of the argument.  The tense atmosphere was shattered by a sudden act of passion, both of them running at each other in a fiery embrace.  The morning was greeted by the two laying together, their clothes sprawled on the floor after a night of sweat and kisses. The film then rolls the opening credits and the next scene is Gerry’s funeral. Although this is quite a sad part to the film, it also has its humor as well in that the funeral is at a bar, and each friend and family member has to come up, pay their respects, and take a shot of whiskey. During this, we are introduced to some new characters, Holly’s two best friends, Denise (Lisa Kudrow) and Sharon (Gina Gershon), her mum Patricia (Kathy Bates) and Daniel (Harry Connick Jr) who longs to be her boyfriend. Whist talking after the funeral, Daniel asks Holly how Gerry died, because before this we do not know how, and she explains that it was a brain tumor.

A few weeks, three to be precise, after his death, its Holly’s Birthday and she receives a cake from Gerry and a tape recorder. They First of all think it’s a joke, they being Holly’s friends and mother. But once listening to the tape, they hear Gerry’s voice speaking, he somehow knows that Holly wouldn’t have left the house since his pass, and tells her to go out and have a good time, so she does what he says. He also says that she will be receiving letters written by him. She receives the letters one by one, doing what they say because she feels she owes it to him for giving her the best years of her life. The letters keep coming until she receives one telling her to go to Ireland with her friends. Gerry was Irish and wanted her to go back to where they first met. He also wants her to go see his parents.

They arrive in Ireland, and the taxi driver takes them to a beautiful house out in the country. Once inside Sharon finds a letter addressed to her, telling her to take Holly on a boat and do some fishing. So as the letter instructs, they go on a boat in the lake and try their hand at fishing. As you can expect, for humor purposes, all goes wrong and the oars float away and they are stranded. Sitting there in the cold and fed up, Sharon decides that she should tell the other 2 that she is pregnant, then Denise has some news to tell as well, she’s getting married in a few weeks. Hearing the good news of the others Holly starts to get depressed, but whilst the others are talking, William comes out to the rescue, as he is a lifeguard of the lake. We know William from the girl’s first night in Ireland, they went to the bar and Holly was dared to go and start talking to him, there was a bit of a spark between them and they got on really well. After he saves them they go back to where they are staying and have some dinner. After they’ve eaten, Denise and Sharon leave the two to talk. One thing leads to another and they kiss, and spend the night together. When they are done, they are talking and discover that William is Gerry’s best friend. This makes things awkward between them.

The next day Holly does the other thing Gerry asked, to visit his parents. When there they explain why they weren’t at his funeral and give her another letter. She can’t open it until they’ve taken her outside and make her look at the view from the wall in their garden. When reading the letter she laughs because he has written about how this wall was his fortress as a kid.

Back at home, when holly and her mother are out walking, her mother hands her the last letter. We are given the feeling throughout the film that Patricia and Gerry were never too fond. But it seems that Gerry has asked Patricia to send all the letters and planned everything for him since his death. Holly reads the last letter, Gerry explains about how he will always love her, but that he wants her to move on and be happy again, he also asks her to take her mother to Ireland and meet his parents. He ends the letter with ‘P.S. I will always love you’.

The film ends with the two of them arriving at Gerry’s parent’ house in Ireland. Where they bump into William again.

P.S. I Love You is a perfect film for a couple, Romantic, humours, and a love story not to forget. It makes you really think what you would do if you lost someone you loved. I also Recommend this film.