I probably won't see the movie until it comes out on DVD, but, from the reviews and ad copy, seems this version once again missed a vital point. The character played in this version by Will Smith was kind of an everyman, just your Average Joe who finds himself the only human in a world of vampires...but all three movie versions make him some kind of scientist, involved in some way in the plague that has descended on the world and created this situation.
What gives with Hollywood?
At any rate, I think there's a perception that in order to be a blockbuster it has to be dumbed down a little. It has to be the sort of movie that the average man can relate to (sorry, scientists!). It's sad, and I think it's just another symptom and cause of spoon-feeding entertainment.
Also, Will Smith is hot in Hollywood these days. It makes me wonder if they didn't have someone like him in mind when they wrote the movie. He's got the "every man" character down pretty well--it's exactly what he played in Independence Day, Men in Black, etc. etc.
I thought there were some things about the movie that were done very well. Will Smith is a great actor, he carries the movie almost completely solo (with a canine companion) - like Tom Hanks in Castaway.
But then there were other things that made me wonder what the filmmakers were thinking. One review I read said the flashbacks detracted from the feel of the movie, the feel of a post-apocalypse world, all that. I think they're right. But it is interesting how the writers decided to handle the need for backstory through flashbacks. I can see why that's kind of considered a cheat in fiction circles I frequent (here being one of those places, LOL.)
Anyway - has anyone else seen the film? Want to talk details? Should we take it to another thread to alert for possible spoilers?
(I won't bother going to the movies to see this---I only rarely go to the movies at all, the last being the last "Star Wars" movie, I think---but will almost certainly pick up the DVD when it's available. I look forward to seeing it in the comfort of my own home. I'm starting to shop for a new TV set with HD...maybe I'll have that by then...)
Awkward.
I found the movie entertaining but rather unmemorable honestly. It was a fun ride, and in any true Hollywood style includes some fun and intresting action moments. The ending was a bit of a let down honestly, as it seems that modern movies are afraid to explore diffrent branches of endings that don't involve leaving the audience happy.
I think alot of this comes from the process of filming multiple endings and then screening them with a test audience and polling them on which ending they more enjoyed. Could you imagine if authors did such things?
A couple of questions I had for people who read the book. (Warning the next couple of paragraphs contain spoilers)
There was a weird sort of sub plot with Will Smith's character having manequin friends to help keep him from loosing it and at least maintain an illusion of social interaction. Was that in the book? And did they elaborate more on his seemingly strange degeneration into madness, where the dummy 'set up the trap' that almost got him killed.
Also, when I saw the previews, I was hoping the story might actually end with Will Smith, as the title itself seems to hint at. Humans being only legend. Reading a book about a man chronicling the death of humanity, and him being the sole survivor seems compelling, if not a bit depressing. Did the book touch on this?
To answer your questions:
1) No mannequins, but the book seriously explores the psychological consequences of being alone that long. He defnitely degenerates into what would have been considered insane, if human society still existed to judge it
2) This is what the book IS ALL ABOUT. Sounds like the movie missed it completely./=