Will Smith is the last man on earth in: ‘I Am Legend’

Global superstar Will Smith is Robert Neville, the only survivor of a devastating, man-made plague that has decimated the world’s population, in Warner Bros.’ new sci-fi thriller “I Am Legend.” But the last man on Earth is not alone…the plague had an adverse side effect that transformed its victims into inhuman creatures – carnivorous dark seekers called the Infected that roam the streets at night with an unquenchable hunger.

Smith was drawn to the story’s interior drama unfolding beneath the broad-scale sci-fi adventure. “It’s a huge summer blockbuster character drama,” he describes. “And yet there are science fiction elements. There are creatures in this movie. We wanted to make something new. We have action sequences, but we’re concentrating aggressively on not having action sequences for the sake of action sequences. It’s got to be driven by character, and you connect with them emotionally. That’s our hope.”

Neville, a military virologist based in Manhattan, spearheaded the government’s attempt to find a vaccine to combat the pandemic. But in spite of their efforts, the virus went airborne and the city was subsequently locked down with only the uninfected allowed to evacuate. Those of the Infected who didn’t succumb to the virus were perhaps dealt a worse fate: Their ravaged metabolism transforming them into creatures who dwell in the darkness of the city’s vast underground, emerging from the shadows, driven by a singular, primal hunger.

In the aftermath of the catastrophe, Neville is also driven, but his need is to find a cure for the cataclysmic affliction. Somehow immune to the virus, he knows he has two weapons at his disposal—his scientific training and his own blood. “Neville knows these beings are infected with a virus that is a mutation of what was created in a lab,” Smith relates. “Now he has been put in this position of being a lone survivor after being the one who, in his mind, couldn’t save mankind.”

With only the companionship of his dog, Sam, Neville struggles to keep himself one step ahead of the Infected. By day, he and Sam subsist by scavenging for supplies, working in the lab and broadcasting daily radio messages in hopes of finding other survivors. By night, they barricade themselves in a reinforced brownstone monitoring the Infected as they hunt and forage through the city streets, sniffing out any hint of prey.

The dualistic nature of the film as both an epic science fiction thriller and the emotional journey of a human being is not lost on Smith. “It’s layered, and you just continue to peel each layer,” he says. “And it’s interesting when you start to get down to the fourth and fifth layers where it’s a little more oblique and people can draw their own conclusions. This film is an experience, and hopefully it will be a cathartic one for the audience. Of course, we want it to be exciting, but it also brings up thoughts and questions. That’s the line we wanted to walk with this movie.”

Opening soon across the Philippines, “I Am Legend” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.