Gaping holes in film's logic

7:00am Saturday 26th April 2008

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I AM Legend (Cert 15, 99 mins, Warner Home Video, Action/Sci-Fi/Drama, also available to buy DVD £19.99/two-disc DVD £22.99/Blu-ray £26.99) Starring: Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Dash Mihok, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Emma Thompson.

Three years after a retrovirus to cure cancer becomes airborne, infecting the six billion people on earth and producing rabies-like symptoms in almost every patient, military virologist Robert Neville (Smith) - one of the lucky few with natural immunity to the contagion - continues his tireless work to engineer a cure.

As the last remaining survivor of the apocalypse in New York City, Robert patrols the ruins of the Big Apple with his dog Sam, issuing radio messages in the hope that someone, anyone, will answer his call.

Every night, he retires to his fortress-like apartment, trying to block out the screams of the Infected - the cannibalistic denizens of the dark who would tear him limb from limb if they ever knew his whereabouts.

Based on Richard Matheson's 1954 novel, I Am Legend is a post-apocalyptic thriller about the last survivor of a terrible man-made catastrophe.

Francis Lawrence's film starts strongly, drawing on Smith's natural charisma and likeability to hold us spellbound as his scientist wrestles with a horrifying predicament.

Almost entirely alone on screen (save for a faithful four-legged companion), the actor brilliantly conveys the fragile mental state of his survivor, who finds comfort in conversations with shop mannequins.

Once scriptwriters Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman move away from a study of their hero's psychological scars and focus on the battle between Robert and Alpha Male (Mihok), the leader of the Infected, I Am Legend becomes a second rate Resident Evil clone.

The final showdown against hordes of superhuman zombies is deeply unsatisfying, unleashing a blitzkrieg of digital destruction to distract attention from gaping holes in the film's strained logic.

The DVD is also available as a two-disc special edition in 3-D lenticular packaging.

DVD Extras: Four animated comics; two disc version: four animated comics, digital download copy of the film, never before seen alternative ending, more than 90 minutes of bonus content and featurettes.

Rating: Three out of five.

Lions For Lambs (Cert 15, 87 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Drama/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £19.99) Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, Andrew Garfield, Derek Luke, Michael Pena, Peter Berg.

Robert Redford directs and stars in this timely drama fashioned from newspaper headlines about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

In the corridors of power in Washington D.C., veteran TV reporter Janine Roth (Streep) sits down for an exclusive audience with presidential hopeful, Senator Jasper Irving (Cruise).

He discloses details of a brand new offensive, certain to shift the conflict back in favour of America and its allies. "When does it start?" asks Janine. "Ten minutes ago," responds Irving proudly.

Meanwhile, in California, college professor Stephen Malley (Redford) calls talented student Todd Hayes (Garfield) to his office, to question the youngster's commitment to the course. The tutor regales Todd with stories about "the last two kids who gave me hope": Arian Finch (Luke) and Ernest Rodriguez (Pena), who are on a tour of duty in Afghanistan as part of Senator Irving's ill-fated new initiative.

Lions For Lambs is extremely worthy and heartfelt, blessed with another tour de force performance from Streep as the journalist who wisely observes, "What have we been doing for the past six years, Senator? World War II only took five."

However, this triptych, witnessing the horrors of the ongoing War Against Terror from different perspectives, is a political and emotional lightweight.

Moreover, it's shamelessly manipulative, engineering a tragic resolution that perpetuates the senseless cycle of bloodshed. Screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan, who also penned The Kingdom, trudges over familiar territory - war is bad, politicians lie, the media is culpable - taking his sweet time to bludgeon us with the underlying messages.

DVD Extras: Director commentary, "On The Front Lines: The Making Of Lions For Lambs" featurette, "Weaving The Thread - Writer/Story/Script" featurette, "A Studio Re-Born - UA" featurette, theatrical trailers.

Rating: Three out of five.