Make no mistake, this is a flawed and uneven movie. That said, much of it is excellent.

Writing: The plotting of the story is all over the place in terms of quality and logic. Frankly, if the last act of the film could have been anywhere near as good as the first act or two, this would have been a stellar success. The nihilistic, isolated and desperate nature of the first half of the film works fantastically. It’s when this story tries to resolve itself where things completely fall down. If they could have tossed the need for a (nearly) happy ending, or even a resolution of any kind, it would have worked so much better. Add to that some poorly defined character traits and some very flawed physical staging in the later part of the movie and you’ve got a script that needed another pass or two by some first rate script doctors.

Production: Having said all that, the film is still very engaging and entertaining. Much of it is thanks to some mostly fantastic visual effects and cinematography work. The VFX of the devastated and lonely New York City are jawdropping and stunning. Absolutely fantastic visual effects work. Which is a shame because the creature effects and animation leave a whole lot to be desired. Not only do they feel completely fake, but they’re VERY generic of the zombie genre. These zombie-like creatures that the human have become are almost completely ineffective on screen. Recent movies like 30 Days Of Night have done far, far better a job through far more simplistic means. Cinematography by Andrew Lesnie is fantastic throughout. He brings the sense of grandeur and style displayed with the Babe films and Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy and King Kong. This might not be quite as stunning in cinematographic terms as his work on King Kong, but it’s still darned impressive.

Cast: This is pretty much a one man (and one dog) show. There are a few supporting performances, but for the vast majority of the film this is the Will Smith show. Thankfully, it’s one of his best performances. No matter the scene, he’s giving it his all. And from dramatic to comedic, it all works. Even when logic is gone and story falls short, Smith’s performance is still going strong. It’s the most consistently impressive thing about the film.

Music: Unlike the plotting, James Newton Howard hits his best moments during the final part of the film. He’s got a gorgeous, delicate requiem of sorts that works amazingly well. I can’t wait until the CD release just for that one theme/cue. He’s got a talent for the gorgeous melody with lush orchestration, and he sure pulls one off for this film. The rest of the score is pretty sparse, but effective. Definitely some fine work.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 4:49 am and is filed under Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.