Isolation has always been a big draw in movies, be it on a deserted island like in Cast Away or in a haunted hotel like in The Shining. What I Am Legend examines is what happens when this isolation is manmade and urban.

The movie chronicles the adventures of the apparent last man on Earth, military man Robert Neville (Will Smith) as he fights to survive in an overgrown New York City while attempting to find a cure for a man-made virus he is naturally immune to. Neville also has to contend with those humans who have mutated from the virus, becoming nocturnal feral creatures. The routine of his search for a cure keeps him sane, as does his practice of assigning identities to mannequins he has scattered throughout the city.

As essentially the only actor throughout the movie, Smith has a lot of weight to carry, but he pulls it off admirably and effortlessly. His charisma is such that he is able to share it with his faithful dog Sam, in what is basically the largest role for a German Shepard since the old Rin Tin Tin movies. Sam and Smith make for a great pair, which really helps keep the movie from growing stale.

The special effects can be hit and miss. While there are some great sequences of Neville cruising through a deserted Manhattan, other times this dystopian future leads to some rather crummy-looking CGI.

The first two thirds of the movie are the strongest. Just the simple watching of Smith, for example, forage for food in an eerily quiet New York City is breathtaking in itself. Indeed, the city itself is something of a character in the movie, so much unlike the New York City we all recognize that it proves to be a very effective image.

But the biggest dragging point for the movie is the third act. For most of the movie, the screenplay is surprisingly deep for an action movie, and questions are brought up about the mutated humans that aren't ever answered in satisfactory manner.

The great theme of what makes a human human is essentially abandoned in favor of your standard copious explosions and big gunfights.