This is where I really rant, again about a few films out there that seem incapable of delivering on their promise. I warn you now loyal reader, there will be spoilers ahead so if you intend to watch either I am Legend or Untraceable then this is not the blog post for you sir.

Untraceable, I turn my wrath on thee first! This film constituted a real waste of a) opportunity and b) celluloid. It was some crass attempt at cashing in on the popularity of the SAW movies, yet adding a technological twist because “tech’s really in”.

This could have been really interesting, rather than some lame schlock horror thriller with computers it could have been, should have been, a good psychological thriller that really challenged the audience. The subject matters an interesting one, visiting a website will speed up the death of the victim. Yet through the film hits on the site go from a few thousand all the way up to tens of millions by the last ‘death’.

That’s 20 million plus murder accomplices! What drives them to look at the site, some out of morbid curiosity sure, others because they think it isn’t real (despite police notification that it is), some because it doesn’t really feel like killing, others…who knows? Only at one point in the entire film do they address this when the lead agent has a line “No lets call them what they are, accomplices”.

The films pacing was pretty off too, but by far my biggest issue was the wasted subject matter. To much time on coming up with potential gory deaths and not enough of giving the film depth. It could have been a film that really challenged the audience, what would you do? Why would you visit? Why did all these people visit? What’s happened to our moral compass in the 21st century? The films weak all round, but its short, if you like your ’schlock horror’ movies then you may well enjoy this for it’s brief run.

I am legend - I feel that I must caveat this in advance by stating that I have not read the book, which I hear is pretty good by all accounts?

This seemed part ’sole surviour’ film and part zombie flick. It did carry a sense of an American “28 Days
Later”

The films a lot of fun, despite the issues I layout here it was really a good watch and I still think Will Smiths great. The biggest issue for me was good, which made those weaker moments stand out more.

The ‘mutants’ for lack of a better description in the film are where its almost let down. For a character that’s supposed to be so intelligent, he ignores some a) interesting developments in the subjects and b) some big hints!

In one scene he captures a ‘mutatnt’ to trial a cure on, as he does so a male ‘mutant’ is seen and makes an attempt to get at Will Smith, but is driven back by the UV light from the sun. Smith in a video recording later attributes this to ‘complete loss of their humanity’. Rubbish! You’ve just kidnapped his daughter/gf/wife you giant idiot, of course he’s going to be pissed! That much is almost instantly clear during the capture sequence, and clearer still when you see its a female mutant laid out on his slab. How could he miss this???

Flag 2 - The maniquin dummy he chats to as part of his routine is moved to a new location, which he investigates and falls into a trap. For a film that’s taken times out when he’s back at home to for recording and stuff, there’s no time given to the clear display of intelligiance by the ‘mutants’. They’ve watched his routine, set-up a trap and then lured him into it.

Flag 3 - This culminates at the end, they ‘mutants’ clearly have a leader as shown by the film and aren’t just interested in eating the inhabitants of the house. They want to find this missing girl. Hence the breaking into the house, the clearing the path so that more can gain access to the house (choosing that over feeding). This leader figure has throughout the film clearly displayed signs of intelligence, yet this is all thrown away at the end and he’s portrayed as just an unrelenting zombie.

The alternative ending on the blu-ray disc I have does a much better job of addressing this almost complete whitewash of all previous actions on this characters part. But this ending lacks some of the emotion of the cinema ending and is a bit to much ‘lives happily ever after’ for me.

Somewhere between film ending and alternate ending would be the best, the film just feels a little undersold. It had depth and was different but wasn’t capable of delivering on that promise in the 1 hour 45 minutes the film ran in at.

Overall the films really enjoyable, Will Smith is great and its a fun film experience it just leaves you a little underwhelmed.