Saturday 5 January 2008

When a small thing like God ruins a perfectly good movie

I have just got back from watching the film I am legend, feeling a little angry at how the film turned out. I'm not about to launch into an in depth critical review of the film but I am going to point out its greatest flaw and why I actually felt a little offended by it. I think most people are aware of the films premise and have seen the adverts, yes it is similar to the opening of 28 days later and through out most of the film it is just Wil Smith and his dog. But it works, it's entertaining and there's lots of tension, and I think most of the people in the audience were dreading the inevitable moment where his dog gets it (I really haven't spoilt it for you, we all knew it was gonna happen).

What spoilt the film was the introduction of a survivor near the final act who insists that God has spoken to her and he sent her to find Wil Smith, and everything that happens is part of God's plan etc. When she first says this to him he sensibly calls her mad, but by the films climax his views of course change and he almost takes on the role of a Jesus Christ figure. This sudden introduction of a Christian element to the film annoyed the hell out of me as it really seemed to have no place in the movie except for one short flashback scene with his dead family.

I haven't read the original book the film is adapted from but I am familiar with the story. In it, Smith's character, as the last human survivor, has been killing the infected humans, but by the end he finds out a small group of them have evolved and are becoming civilised but they fear him because he's been killing them all. He has become a legendary figure among this emerging new race, and realises he has become a monster to them. They eventually capture him and he commits suicide before they can publically execute him.

Now, the film seemed to be running along similar lines (well he's been catching some of them to try and cure them) until it cops out at the end with this Christian angle. Because that's what happened. A cop out. I am almost certain that the original script for this film had a very different ending because for me it felt like it turned into a different story for the last half hour. I found it made me angry because when she was asking Wil Smith to believe in God I felt like the film makers were asking me to believe in God, but I'm not a Christian. And then I thought of the other people in the audience. Fair enough they don't refer directly to Christianity, but they are refering to God in the sense of "the one true God" of the Abrahamic religeons, so it seems everyone else watching can fuck off.

But then I thought about other films with God or Christianity in it, such as Bruce Almighty. It didn't really bother me in the movie so why should it with this film? I think it's because it was made clear from the start what Bruce Almighty was about. There are many films out there that are about someone finding their faith, or with strong Christian values that are central to the story, but the theme is kept consistent throughout those movies and it's always set up early on. But I Am Legend seems to just springs it on you in the last act, and it felt out of place. It jolted me out of the movie.

I have had a brief look at the critical reception of this film and many of them say it has a weak last act though they don't cite the Christian element added to the film as the reason for blame (guess it's just me). But I am sure the real reason the last act fails is because the story changes in the last act and the film becomes something else from what they originally intended it to be. I think if they stuck with something similar to what they had in the ending of the original story they would have had produced a much better film with an ending that is consistent with the story they were trying to tell.

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