Crappy ending aside, is the rest of it at least enjoyable for someone who has read the book?
Well, I loved the film, right up until the ending, which I found so discordant (relative to the rest of the film) and off-putting that it's the only thing that kept the movie from winding up on my "favourites of 2007" list. I think the trick is to go in not expecting Matheson's novel, but something closer to a remake of The Omega Man (also based on I Am Legend). But, your mileage may very, of course. Frankly, I think it did the best job of depicting a post-apocalyptic urban landscape of any film I've ever seen, and Smith's performance is superb. I cried about three quarters of the way through the film, it affected me so deeply. But that crappy theatre ending...
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Well, I loved the film, right up until the ending, which I found so discordant (relative to the rest of the film) and off-putting that it's the only thing that kept the movie from winding up on my "favourites of 2007" list. I think the trick is to go in not expecting Matheson's novel, but something closer to a remake of The Omega Man (also based on I Am Legend). But, your mileage may very, of course. Frankly, I think it did the best job of depicting a post-apocalyptic urban landscape of any film I've ever seen, and Smith's performance is superb. I cried about three quarters of the way through the film, it affected me so deeply. But that crappy theatre ending...