Synopsis
The "last man on earth" fights zombie-monsters.

Review
This is not the first adaptation of Richard Matheson's novellete of the same name, but it is the first to be in a setting similar to what Matheson wrote (this one is set in New York, the original was set in L.A.; The Omega Man was set in outerspace; The Last Man on Earth was set in Italy) and is a mixed bag. It is faithful to the original story in many ways, but deviates from it in others that forced the ending to be quite different than the original and therefore suffers from it. Robert Neville (Smith) is the only man left in New York City after a plague broke out from a drug that was supposed to have cured cancer. Neville roams the streets with his dog, Sam, and tries to come up with a cure for the plague, as he was a colonel in the Army and apparently a doctor. But, he has to make sure he's back indoors by sundown or the Dark Seekers as he calls them come out and want to eat him. Bummer. What follows is a pretty good adaptation of the novel that affords Will Smith the same opportunity that Cast Away afforded Tom Hanks, namely being all alone for a great deal of the movie and having to carry the story along on acting alone. Smith knocks it out of the park with this one, infusing Neville with the humanity that has been wiped out. Neville is at once both brave and fearful, with the weight of his failures in trying to find a cure and the oppressive silence and loneliness of isolation bearing down on him. His only companion is Sam, who faithfully accompanies Neville on his rounds. The emptiness of the city is quite amazing and director Francis Lawrence does a great job in showing the sheer desolation. It is where the movie differs from the novelette, obviously, that is the most interesting and shows what the movie could have been. In the novellete, there is more focus on Neville being a hunter of the Dark Seekers (who are more like vampires in the original) as a primary drive; the need to find a cure is secondary to this. The hunting was rather ignored in the movie except when Neville needed a "human" upon which to test the next hopeful cure, and because of this, the movie's ending is very weak, with a "Hollywood-esque" ending that tries to tie in the title and doesn't do a very good job. You can view the alternate, original ending, which is much better and more faithful to the novellete's ending, here. Still, the movie is a pretty good sci-fi movie that deals with the part of the human condition connected with needing companionship. The Dark Seekers themselves are a quandary; fully CG, they don't look real, but then probably aren't supposed to. Their nature is never quite specified as to what their abilities are or what they need to live on and without having read the novellete, I would have thought they were supposed to be more zombie than vampire. The CG work is pretty good, but having actual actors at least in the two major Dark Seeker "roles" would have been better. The feel of the city is oppressive and sets up the audience up, since we know something is going to happen sooner or later. There are flashbacks to the evacuation which are interesting and build a bit more character and those are useful for showing the contrast between the New York City as we know it and Neville's graveyard New York. For the first forty minutes or so, there is no musical score, which is a brave and great idea, since it strengthens the feeling of being alone.

Highlights
Smith; Sam; deer hunting; the video store; Fred

Rating
I give this film a bourbon on the rocks rating; it's tense and creepy, but the ending falls flat. As a sci-fi movie, it's pretty good. The villains of the Dark Seekers are pretty good, but could have been much better with more interaction between them and Neville. The score by Newton Howard is simplistic for the most part, with a haunting piano theme, but gets pounding at the right times.