It is not that often that I get to go to the summer theater of my youth. The single screen Uptown theater in Washington, D.C. is where I saw "Ghostbusters," "E.T.," and "Back to the Future."* So I was more than a little excited to get to see a summer movie at the Uptown with my family. The dark red curtains lining the walls and the magnificent curved cinemascope screen always make me a bit weak in the knees and giddy with excitement. So as I walked through those creaky old doors, I was more than ready to enjoy the movie.

I suppose it is an incredible bit of unhappy luck for "Hancock" that prior to its release, the wonderful "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk" were released earlier this year. Those movies were unexpectedly good, which was a pleasant surprise to moviegoers but an unfortunate turn of events for "Hancock." This is because on a basic level, "Hancock" is not that bad a movie. A lot of the dialogue is funny and Will Smith and Jason Bateman are as likeable as always. Though the idea of a slovenly, destructive superhero is fairly unique, the plot did not seem to have any special, unique spark to it. That is not say that the movie is not any good. On the contrary, "Hancock" is fun. It is not the most memorable movie, but you do not regret the cost of admission either. It is a light, enjoyable summer flick. It is just difficult to review since "Iron Man" and "Hulk" raised the bar so high for superhero movies so recently.

Forgetting about what hit theatres earlier this year and speaking strictly on the merits of "Hancock," I would have to say it stands out pretty well. I could easily nitpick this movie to death, but honestly I did not go to this movie expecting anything truly special. I simply went to have a little fun, and this movie delivered on that for me. There is nothing especially memorable, but you are left satisfied thanks to some unexpectedly humorous moments. In fact, this movie was a lot funnier than the trailer led me to believe. I did not quite understand the dynamics of Bateman's family or Hancock's place in it (or his backstory for that matter), but for me, the movie was less about plot than character. I really liked the main character, and even though the story underwhelmed me, I found the time spent watching the movie worthwhile. This was partially because of the great venue, but I have to give a lot of credit to this movie, which is a total delight.

It is not the kind of Will Smith blockbuster that makes you stand up and cheer, but it does make you smile a bit. And really, you could not ask for more from the glut of action movies you normally sit through on any give summer movie year. I think as moviegoers we've been pretty lucky so far this season, and "Hancock" gives me the hope that there is still some more quality yet to come. After all, it doesn't get much better than sitting in the Uptown and hearing the theme from "Sanford & Son" blasted out in Stereo. Oh no it doesn't.

(*Fun and embarassing fact about America: the #10 grossing movie in 1985, the year of "Back to the Future," was "Spies Like Us." Yeah. That happened.)

“I Am Legend”
2007
***½ out of ****
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan


Well thank you. Not only did you guys manage to make me see “Bee Movie” and manage to put “Meet the Spartans” at second place in my “Torture Me” contest for the month, but you guys had the gall to pick “Alvin and the Chipmunks over “I Am Legend.” If you really want to know how surprised I was by this movie, I LIKED Will Smith, which says a lot. Maybe he’s begging for another Academy Award nomination again, but if anyone deserves it this time around, it’s him. Between him and Michael Shannon from “Bug,” both playing similar characters, these two will be cheated come the next few weeks.

It’s a shame too, because Will Smith deserves it. You know how I hate giving people that I don’t like kudos, but you know that I will always admit it when they do a good job (which is section 4:23 in the Critic Rule Book). Remember when “I Am Legend” seemed like a shitty movie? Well, yeah, I guess that didn’t last too long. If it only corrected one problem and got rid of a few religious overtones, it would have gotten four stars from me.

Will Smith plays Robert Neville, a scientist who is the last man on the face of New York City in 2012. A deadly virus immerged from a treatment that was used to cure cancer. All of the bridges were broken down and there is no more contact with anyone away from there. Since 2009, Neville and his dog Sam have been searching homes, looking for survivors and food. It’s until that he wakes up the dead, though, that Neville starts to get worried for his life, his dog’s life, and for the life of anyone else if they’re still alive.

From the first few moments of “I Am Legend,” I was engrossed with its story. There is something about Will Smith being all alone in the middle of New York that made me shake. We see posters for a movie between Superman and Batman. We see mannequins around the city that supposedly can walk around. We see things that in this day of age would even surprise us. It’s too scary for words. Why, I’m glad that they got Superman vs. Batman right, because I thought that some people would be too “smart” to put Superman and Spiderman together. What monkey-fuckers!

But I think that if there was anything special about this movie is that Francis Lawrence brings us to such a claustrophobic setting and there is only one character and his dog. Being that there is little dialogue, we see Will Smith interact with “others.” He makes his dog eat vegetables and talks to mannequins in the DVD store (and gives them all names at the same time). He has time to memorize scenes from “Shrek” and watches more movies than I. Is it that he’s going nuts, or is he just lonely? And then something tragic happens, and suddenly, it feels like Smith’s character’s walls are closing in. He begins to feel like his life isn’t worth anything anymore. He drives into a pack of nightwalkers, trying to kill them and himself. Is it him giving up on something that he has been working on for three years and longer?

Will Smith, as you probably already know, gives a totally amazing performance. As much as I don’t like the guy, I never once said he doesn’t have talent. Between “Ali” and “The Pursuit of Happyness,” I’m glad that he drifts away from his usual character that can talk fast and act jive. There are tons of times where he proves that he could hold a movie like “I Am Legend” on his own all by himself, which he pretty much does with the exception of a few flash-back scenes.

I just had two problems with the movie (and neither of them is the ending, which I liked and thought suited brilliantly to the end of the film). The first one is how the movie starts to talk about religion. In one scene, a character keeps saying that God is telling her things, and then Will Smith shouts back that God isn’t real and goes into a whole speech about it. While I’m still an Atheist no matter where it stands, a movie like “I Am Legend” doesn’t really need a speech about why God isn’t real. It only lasts one minute, but it’s enough for me to say “quit it.”

The second problem is that I’m still questioning what has gone on in the past three years. Sure, the movie implies that he has been doing the same thing everyday, but I want to see more. I want to see the dog grow up and train. I want to see Neville’s first encounter with the Night-Walkers, because it is obvious to me that they had an encounter before the film took place. I want to see Neville grief for a little while over his family. I want to see more of what happened that night. For a movie that should go on for longer than two hours, it only goes on for an hour and forty minutes. I’m not one to bitch about running times, but I think this is that one time where I was almost begging for more.

“I Am Legend” is an almost perfect flick. It’s the reason why films should BE fun. It has an excellent performance by Will Smith and brilliant looking special-effects. It still has its problems to work on, but I guess there is nothing to do about it.

Oh, and after “Meet the Spartans,” I’m done with the “Torture Me” thing. I actually kind of figured now that most of you guys like to see me tortured.