I AM LEGEND
I don't know if you have seen that movie (oh my God!). Will Smith is a genius, that guy can act. When I saw "In pursuit of happy-ness", I thought I had seen the best of this amazing actor but this new one is even better. To imagine that he acted 80% of the movie on his own (save the scenes where he had to act with the dog) makes you sit up to appreciate the genius that once lit up the screens as the Will in the "Fresh prince of Bel-Air".
I sat to watch this movie hoping to be entertained but I came out with a big lesson. A leson that I thought I should share. But first, here's a summary of the movie:
After the outbreak of a lethal virus in 2009, US Army virologist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Will Smith) is left as the last healthy human in New York City and possibly the entire world.
Opening in 2012, a series of flashbacks and recorded news programs reveal that in 2009 a genetically re-engineered measles virus, originally created as a cure for cancer, mutated into a lethal strain which rapidly infected humans and some species of animals. By the end of the year over 90% of the planet's human population died. Over 9% were infected, but did not die. These survivors degenerated into a primal state of aggression and began to react painfully to UV radiation, forcing them to hide in buildings and other dark places during the day. Less than 1% remained completely immune to the virus, but were hunted and killed by the infected or committed suicide due to their isolation until, three years after the outbreak, Robert Neville is left as what he believes to be the last healthy human in the world.
Neville's daily routine includes experimentation to find a cure for the virus and trips through a Manhattan devoid of humanity to hunt for food and supplies. He also waits each day for a response to his continuous recorded radio broadcasts, which instruct any uninfected survivors to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport. Flashbacks reveal that his wife and daughter appear to have died in a helicopter accident during the chaotic evacuation of Manhattan, prior to the military-enforced quarantine of the island in 2009. Neville's isolation is broken only by the companionship of his dog Samantha ("Sam"), interaction with mannequins he has set up as patrons of a video store, and recordings of old news and entertainment broadcasts.
Neville seems to find a promising treatment derived from his own blood, so he sets a snare trap and captures an infected woman while an infected male watches from the shadows. Back in his laboratory, located in the basement of his heavily-fortified Washington Square Park home, Neville treats the infected woman without success. Shortly thereafter, he is ensnared in a trap similar to the one he used to capture the woman. By the time Neville escapes it is dark and he is attacked by infected dogs, one of which bites Sam (although dogs are unaffected by the airborne strain of the virus, they are still affected by the contact strain). Initially Neville brings Sam home and injects her with a strand of his serum, but when she shows signs of infection and tries to attack him Neville is forced to strangle her. Later that night he goes out and recklessly attacks a group of infected. He is nearly killed, but is rescued by a pair of immune survivors, Anna (Alice Braga) and a young boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan), who have traveled from Maryland after hearing one of his broadcasts. They take the injured Neville back to his home where Anna explains that they survived the outbreak aboard a Red Cross evacuation ship from São Paulo and are making their way to a putative survivors' camp in Bethel, Vermont.
Neville once again attempts to administer a potential cure to the infected woman in his laboratory, but the next night a group of infected, who had followed Anna and Neville back the night before, attack the house and overrun its defenses. Neville, Anna, and Ethan retreat into the basement laboratory, sealing themselves in with the woman Neville has been treating. Discovering that the last treatment has been successful, Neville draws a vial of the woman's blood and gives it to Anna. He pushes Anna and Ethan into an old coal chute, and then sacrifices himself to save their lives, using a hand grenade to kill himself and the attacking infected.
Anna and Ethan escape to Vermont, and locate the survivors' colony, where Anna hands over the cure. In the closing voice-over, she states that Neville's cure enabled humanity to survive and rebuild, establishing his legend.
HERE'S THE MESSAGE: A MAN WHO HAS NOTHING WORTH DYING FOR, HAS NOTHING WORTH LIVING FOR!!!
I don't know if you have seen that movie (oh my God!). Will Smith is a genius, that guy can act. When I saw "In pursuit of happy-ness", I thought I had seen the best of this amazing actor but this new one is even better. To imagine that he acted 80% of the movie on his own (save the scenes where he had to act with the dog) makes you sit up to appreciate the genius that once lit up the screens as the Will in the "Fresh prince of Bel-Air".
I sat to watch this movie hoping to be entertained but I came out with a big lesson. A leson that I thought I should share. But first, here's a summary of the movie:
After the outbreak of a lethal virus in 2009, US Army virologist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Will Smith) is left as the last healthy human in New York City and possibly the entire world.
Opening in 2012, a series of flashbacks and recorded news programs reveal that in 2009 a genetically re-engineered measles virus, originally created as a cure for cancer, mutated into a lethal strain which rapidly infected humans and some species of animals. By the end of the year over 90% of the planet's human population died. Over 9% were infected, but did not die. These survivors degenerated into a primal state of aggression and began to react painfully to UV radiation, forcing them to hide in buildings and other dark places during the day. Less than 1% remained completely immune to the virus, but were hunted and killed by the infected or committed suicide due to their isolation until, three years after the outbreak, Robert Neville is left as what he believes to be the last healthy human in the world.
Neville's daily routine includes experimentation to find a cure for the virus and trips through a Manhattan devoid of humanity to hunt for food and supplies. He also waits each day for a response to his continuous recorded radio broadcasts, which instruct any uninfected survivors to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport. Flashbacks reveal that his wife and daughter appear to have died in a helicopter accident during the chaotic evacuation of Manhattan, prior to the military-enforced quarantine of the island in 2009. Neville's isolation is broken only by the companionship of his dog Samantha ("Sam"), interaction with mannequins he has set up as patrons of a video store, and recordings of old news and entertainment broadcasts.
Neville seems to find a promising treatment derived from his own blood, so he sets a snare trap and captures an infected woman while an infected male watches from the shadows. Back in his laboratory, located in the basement of his heavily-fortified Washington Square Park home, Neville treats the infected woman without success. Shortly thereafter, he is ensnared in a trap similar to the one he used to capture the woman. By the time Neville escapes it is dark and he is attacked by infected dogs, one of which bites Sam (although dogs are unaffected by the airborne strain of the virus, they are still affected by the contact strain). Initially Neville brings Sam home and injects her with a strand of his serum, but when she shows signs of infection and tries to attack him Neville is forced to strangle her. Later that night he goes out and recklessly attacks a group of infected. He is nearly killed, but is rescued by a pair of immune survivors, Anna (Alice Braga) and a young boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan), who have traveled from Maryland after hearing one of his broadcasts. They take the injured Neville back to his home where Anna explains that they survived the outbreak aboard a Red Cross evacuation ship from São Paulo and are making their way to a putative survivors' camp in Bethel, Vermont.
Neville once again attempts to administer a potential cure to the infected woman in his laboratory, but the next night a group of infected, who had followed Anna and Neville back the night before, attack the house and overrun its defenses. Neville, Anna, and Ethan retreat into the basement laboratory, sealing themselves in with the woman Neville has been treating. Discovering that the last treatment has been successful, Neville draws a vial of the woman's blood and gives it to Anna. He pushes Anna and Ethan into an old coal chute, and then sacrifices himself to save their lives, using a hand grenade to kill himself and the attacking infected.
Anna and Ethan escape to Vermont, and locate the survivors' colony, where Anna hands over the cure. In the closing voice-over, she states that Neville's cure enabled humanity to survive and rebuild, establishing his legend.
HERE'S THE MESSAGE: A MAN WHO HAS NOTHING WORTH DYING FOR, HAS NOTHING WORTH LIVING FOR!!!
