Saturday, January 5, 2008

A Rare Movie Treat

I watched "I Am Legend" tonight, after a long debate ("'Juno'? 'National Treasure'? How about whichever one we aren't late for when we get there? All right then!") and was surprised in several ways.

I don't want to ruin anything for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. Suffice it to say I was expecting something like "Cast Away" and got a great deal more action than that. (I never saw a trailer as detailed as the one in the link above, or I would have known better.)

Another surprise was a conversation about the nature of God that took place near the end of the movie. Will Smith ended the conversation by saying, "There is no God," which is what you would expect from a big Hollywood movie, but that wasn't the last word on the subject, only in the conversation.

It was a thought-provoking movie in terms of lots of things: what would the world be like without people; what could / have people done to ruin the earth we've been entrusted with; what would I do if I found myself in Smith's shoes (for much of the movie, as far as he knows, he's the sole survivor on earth); and some medical ethics and animal issues thrown in for fun. It's been a long time since I saw a good serious thinking movie. I was pleased.

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