This is the third time Hollywood has tried to film Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend. The two previous efforts were The Last Man on Earth (Vincent Price, 1964) and The Omega Man (Charlton Heston, 1971). Like those films, the 2007 edition, directed by Francis Lawrence, makes only a half-hearted effort to stay true to the printed page, though it is by far the best screen version.

Will Smith plays Robert Neville, a research doctor trying to solve the mystery of a cancer cure that has gone terribly wrong. Not only did it not cure cancer, it transformed all the survivors into hairless humanoid monsters with fangs and superhuman energy. Neville, immune to the disease, believes he is the last human on earth -- surely the last in New York City -- yet continues to do his research, searching for an antidote. His only companion is his dog, Sam. Neville lives off canned food that he steals from apartments and stores that he breaks into. His house and laboratory are powered by generators, and each night he draws down heavy shutters to keep out the humanoids, which are nocturnal. Dramatically sound and effective flashbacks fill in the blanks and tell us how everyone else perished.

One night, on a mission to kill as many creatures as he can by running them down with his SUV, Neville is wounded, then somehow rescued by Anna (Alice Braga), who, in response to Neville’s AM-radio distress message, has come to New York with her son, Ethan (Charlie Tahan). She tells Neville that there is a survivors’ colony in Vermont, though it may already have fallen prey to the terror that comes out at night.

The first half of I Am Legend is genuinely stark and scary. The vision of Manhattan deserted and destroyed is impressive -- the city’s bridges have been blown up to keep anyone from escaping and infecting the rest of the world. Abandoned cars choke the streets where deer run wild, pursued by lions escaped from the zoo. The atmosphere is charged and bleak as Smith tools through the city in his vehicle, trying to bag a deer. Although James Newton Howard is credited with composing the original score, there seems to be little other than source music, mostly by Bob Marley; many scenes play out in eerie silence. The first sighting of a humanoid, in the dark, is frightening.

As the movie unfolds and we see more of the creatures, they become more obviously CGI, and, halfway through, I Am Legend shifts from horror to action adventure to a hastily tacked-on ending. Not that the ending isn’t effective -- it just isn’t as creepy or as realistic as it could have been.

Smith makes Neville’s descent into madness thoroughly believable -- you really believe that loneliness can unhinge people. He is handicapped only by a script that starts out fine but gradually descends into disbelief and confusion. For example, we never discover how Anna rescues Neville. He’s being mauled by creatures as the screen fades to black, and in the next scene he’s waking up in his apartment, with the sounds of Anna making breakfast coming from his kitchen. Was a scene cut?

Still, I Am Legend is well worth seeing for Smith’s performance and the vision of a completely destroyed Manhattan. This film might not be the stuff of legend, but it’s thoroughly entertaining -- and if you like Bob Marley, you must meet Neville, his ultimate fan.

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