Movie and Book Review: I Am Legend

Comparing Richard Matheson's Book with Francis Lawrence's Film

Sep 5, 2009

Although both the book and film of "I Am Legend" present a man isolated by a virus, they differ greatly in their characterization, plot, and, most importantly, message.

I Am Legend follows Robert Neville, the only survivor of a virus that has turned mankind into blood-sucking monsters. In the film, Neville, a military scientist, unwaveringly searches for a cure to the virus, to which he is immune, fighting his own isolation and hopelessness. In the book, Neville, a simple factory worker, tries only to survive one day at a time, walking the fine line between humanity and monstrosity as he seeks out the monsters in order to destroy them.

Robert Neville, the man

In Francis Lawrence's 2007 film adaptation I Am Legend, Will Smith plays Robert Neville, a soldier and scientist who devotes his isolation to curing a disease that turned the human population into vampires. He assumes responsibility and works tirelessly to uphold what he sees as his duty. Yet his calm demeanor appears utterly misplaced and not the least bit ironic in the midst of the disaster. At one particular point in the film, a soft, nostalgic score plays as the military attempts to quarantine a riotous city, separating the infected from the uninfected in a sick mockery of a concentration camp.

Richard Matheson, in his original short story I Am Legend, presents an utterly different picture of Robert Neville. Unlike his cinematic counterpart, Neville does not seek a cure at all (Matheson 17). He simply tries to survive. The first sentences of the story depict him maintaining the equipment and defenses around his home. When he reminisces about the outbreak, he focuses on the chaos that ensued. No military quarantine appeared to instill order; no men in uniform protected the healthy. Instead, religious upheaval replaced rational reactions: people believed the vampires were a curse from God (102). Although Neville does not place any weight on such notions, he does not employ a scientific perspective either.

Mission: Annihilation vs. salvation

This disparity in origins consequently affects the disparity in reactions. The Neville of the film initially feels compassion for the infected vampires whereas the Neville of the book feels only an intense separation. To this end, the latter actively seeks out vampires and kills them in their sleep, at one point using forty-seven stakes in one day (17). Yet in the film, Neville spends a vast majority of his time looking for food and supplies and intentionally avoiding the places where he believes vampires reside. For instance, while hunting a deer, he finds a group of sleeping vampires and takes care to remain silent as he makes his exit. He does not attack them, thereby exhibiting his desire to save them rather than destroy them.

Despite this, he does not see the vampires as human beings. For instance, the Neville of the film explicitly states that “typical human behavior is now entirely absent” in the vampires, which appear as clay-like figures, unreal zombies with no human appearance at all. Alternatively, the book depicts much more rational actions on the part of the vampires. For instance, one vampire in particular stands outside of Neville’s home each night and calls, “Come out, Neville!” (6), whereas the vampires in the film only growl. Ironically, both depictions manage to emphasize the creatures’ monstrosity: the film shows ferocious animals, and the book shows an abomination of the human species.

Ending: Monstrosity vs. humanity and the meaning of “Legend”

The most important facet of the book, excluded from the film, concerns the existence of two types of vampires – the mindless monsters that attack Neville’s home at night, and infected humans who crave blood but can still think and feel. The book claims that, unaware of the distinction, Neville has simply killed every infected person that he has found including those who have retained their human characteristics. The book then ends with these infected humans capturing Neville and executing him for his crimes against them. Thus we learn the source of the book’s title: he has become the terror of the vampires; he has become their horrific superstition; he is their legend (159).

Yet at the end of the movie, Neville shouts to vampires, “I have a cure… let me save you!” When the vampires ignore him and continue to attack, Neville realizes that they are nothing more than mindless monsters. Eventually, he takes out a grenade and runs at the vampires in a clash between his humanity and their monstrosity, killing them. The film ends with a woman narrating that the surviving people are Neville’s legacy and that the story is his legend, emphasizing his place as the savior of humanity.

Conclusion:

The book continually questions Neville’s identity as a man while the film focuses on his loneliness and reasserts his heroism. Neville, in the film, never goes through any significant moral crisis, but remains steadfastly good and compassionate in the face of chaos. He embodies a mixture of Noah – chosen survivor – and Christ – savior of humanity. On the other hand, Neville, in the book, must redefine himself in terms of the new society that grows up around him. He too begins as Noah, a chosen survivor, but then embodies the anti-Christ – representing the death of humanity.

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