A worldwide biohazard has turned most of the human race into flesh-eating zombies… Sound familiar? Yes the theme may seem a little reminiscent of the popular video game turned Hollywood motion picture, "Resident Evil", but the origin of this theme dates back to 1954 when Richard Matheson wrote a first of its kind science fiction novel called "I Am Legend"; in which, one remaining normal man, living in New York sets out to save the world alone. The movie in question, an adaptation of this novel, seems effective in tingling the viewers’ nerves, but in turn uses the same old special effects that are all so common in today’s horror flicks.

Despite the relative failure of earlier adaptations; namely "The Last Man on Earth"(1964) and "The Omega Man"(1971); Warner Bros. decided, bravely, to give this novel another go. The idea has been under consideration since the late ‘90s, and the very people responsible for "The Omega Man" have helped in the scripting of this later version. Many changes in the planned cast and crew have taken place subsequently; the initial plan being to make it a star-studded affair; staring the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas. 

The present day New York, with billboards of "Hairspray", "Rent" and "Wicked" on Time Square, is depicted lifeless except for stray birds, deer and lions!!! Manhattan seems almost unrecognizable with overgrowth of grass and weed, and deserted cars piled up together. The eeriness is eased only by a TV commercial announcing the development of a cure for cancer, indicating that we are looking at a scene from a not so distant future.

The silence is broken by the sound of a car with its rider taking aim and shooting at a deer with his heavy rifle and failing. This man is Robert Neville (Will Smith) and after this he returns to his well-stocked apartment at Washington Square, accompanied by his German shepherd.

Director Francis Lawrence is more than successful in creating a sense of dread for the unknown without much visual help in the first few minutes of the film. The extreme silence broken by sudden howling and screaming, while Will Smith rests in an empty bathtub along with his dog, might prove nerve shattering for more sensitive viewers.

The haunting memories of the lead character, Neville, who used to be a military scientist three years ago and was involved in the exodus of many citizens of Manhattan (including his wife and daughter) are quite fascinatingly shot. The reason for the exodus is that Manhattan is being quarantined due to the outbreak of an artificially developed virus and Will Smith is shown to be curiously immune to it.

As is quite predictable, the film deals with Will Smith (probably the last healthy man left) trying to capture the cannibal zombies affected by this virus and experimenting on them to develop a remedy. It is during this that the film takes a wrong turn into a clichéd zombie infested horror film, and all the hard work in creating the initial cold dread into the viewer goes to waste as common place horror movie scenes start dominating the screen. After sometime, these creatures get a little annoying with nothing to do but run and roar, all the time becoming more disheveled in appearance.

Credit should be given to Will Smith for dominating the screen single-handedly, accompanied only by a dog, and carrying it out pretty well. With the perfect mixture of emotions and madness that come from, and thrive on, utter loneliness; Smith’s acting can easily be compared to Tom Hanks’ in "Cast Away". These emotions are best expressed in, what I call easily the best scene in the whole movie, when Neville has to deal with his contaminated dog. 

Technically, the film is quite well made; of course, excluding the recurring all-too-common zombie attacks. The diversion form the initial star-studded plan to casting the relatively less known Alice Braga, also proved to be an effective one. But what really makes the movie stand apart is the eerie depiction of a deserted Manhattan.