For some reason it's always a cool thing to see New York City abandoned of people. The scenes of 'Last Man on Earth' Robert Neville (Will Smith) wandering the desolation of the Big Apple, whether it be hunting deer or the violent mutants humanity has transformed into, is truly fascinating to watch. In the first part of the movie we see how he survives at his Washington Square apartment with his dog Sam as his sole companion. And, of course, he's become a little bit crazy in the past three years, since the virus struck. But as the movie progresses we see exactly why the mutants are trying to kill him. He's been abducting them and trying out his vaccines in hopes of a cure. Unfortunately none of them worked and they all died. The reason he is alive is that he has a natural immunity.
The last third of the movie falls apart and tries to become an action movie. He meets some others who are immune to the virus and the mutants launch an all-out assault on his house. There's explosions, explosions and more explosions. And Neville's tale ends up with a literal bang. But by this time I was getting bored and recollecting how much better the source material (Richard Matheson's novel) is.
I think the biggest mistake, however, is having all the mutant-humans computer generated. They just don't look real and because of this aren't very frightening in scenes where they're supposed to be terrifying. Will Smith does a great job with what he has to work with but it's not enough to pull off the movie. It ends with a thudding 'so what'?.
For some reason it's always a cool thing to see New York City abandoned of people. The scenes of 'Last Man on Earth' Robert Neville (Will Smith) wandering the desolation of the Big Apple, whether it be hunting deer or the violent mutants humanity has transformed into, is truly fascinating to watch. In the first part of the movie we see how he survives at his Washington Square apartment with his dog Sam as his sole companion. And, of course, he's become a little bit crazy in the past three years, since the virus struck. But as the movie progresses we see exactly why the mutants are trying to kill him. He's been abducting them and trying out his vaccines in hopes of a cure. Unfortunately none of them worked and they all died. The reason he is alive is that he has a natural immunity.
