Chateau Lloyd

Having seen the two films practically back-to-back (okay, there was an interval of a week between them), I can say that Will Smith's I am Legend is a faithful remake of The Omega Man.

And that's the problem.

In the 1970s, slow-paced sci-fi/horror films were the norm.  The 'gotcha' elements were not yet known, so it was fine to let a nightmare vision of the future unfold gradually.

Decades later, literally no one is surprised by this sort of thing.  All the tropes have been used and re-used to death.  I get why actors want these roles - it's an incredible opportunity to dominate the screen for a half hour or more with no more than a dog as a co-star. 

However, there's no real tension.  It's a remake - actually the second remake (the original being Vincent Price's The Last Man on Earth).

So what does I am Legend add to the story?  Not much.  Post-zombie New York is more interesting than post-zombie Los Angeles, but other than the overuse of CGI, it's the same story.

Both films force the protagonist to do stupid things in order to advance the plot, which is expected given the genre.

The biggest difference to me was that while The Omega Man had little if any religious references (basically saving until the end), they are liberally sprinkled throughout I am Legend.  In fact, near the end they are quite blatant, which was quite unexpected.  It's interesting that in 2007 Hollywood could present a character (a Catholic, not less) who could weather a horrific disaster, calmly take it as consistent with God's plan, and have hope for the future.

That was pretty cool.

But not worth sitting through again.  If I had this as a standalone DVD, I'd sell it.