Another nit pick gripe I've thought of: Spoiler When did he find time to build that elaborate safe fort of his? He must be pretty handy with tools to be able to build those window covers.
Regarding the trap: Spoiler The vampires were sentient in the book, thus the evidence points to them setting the trap for Neville. As an aside, I really don't like how they changed the explanation for why Neville had achieved "legendary status". This whole business about creating a cure for the virus, thus becoming a legend, just pisses all over the book and its whole foundation. In the book, Neville was a legend because he terrorized and killed the "good" vampires unknowingly (there were good and bad vampires), which led to tall tales and stories being circulated among the vampire society about him. That's an infinitely cooler concept than the one fed us in the movie. Oh, well. Guess I shouldn't expect much from a Will Smith movie... At least Smith didn't say "OH HELLLLL NAWWWW!"
Spoiler I gave it some thought during the movie, but in the end I just figured that his character was smarter than the average bear (a military chemist/scientist) so it wouldn't be a stretch at all to think he could gather some metal from around the city and build shutters and barracades.
yeah that would have been cooler, but hte film would have been rated R and Hollywood doesn't like bad guys, everything has to be good
Spoiler They moved Fred & set up the trap? I find that kind of hard to take in... Were they allways that smart? I would think it would be the other way around? They used to be like humans but were turning more & more into zombies right? Wouldnt that mean their intellegence levels went down?
I think the zombie connotation is a bit misguided. The monsters were NOT zombies. I liken them more to the infected humans in 28 days later. They were still humans, they were still alive, their brains functioning, but they were highly aggressive. Smith just theorized that they were de-evolving. Spoiler I do think the approach the writers took (finding a cure for the disease) really put them into a corner. If they wanted to have anything remotely close to a happy ending, he would have to find a cure, which would seem a little far-fetched given how long he's worked to find one outside the context of the movie and considering the short timeframe they have within the movie..and then once he finds the cure, what is done w/ it is another question that ultimately goes unanswered. I do still like the "cure" angle, even more so than the actual storyline from the book (don't think I'd be able to attach myself to his character as well), but they could have fleshed out the story more, which have been beneficial for the whole movie. If they spent a little more developing the two other characters in the second half, devoted more time to his beliefs or growing lack-thereof regarding God (instead of glossing over it), spend a little more time on his characters tireless and hopeless devotion to his work and the monsters apparent previously undiscovered intelligence, the movie would have been that much better for it. Or perhaps they could have gone a Children of Men route (which they sorta did), instead of showing the town and the survivors, just leave you knowing that he died but achieved his goal of finding a cure, but that the world was still far from being saved and there was no guarantee the cure would do anything...much like the baby in "Men"...it gives you hope of a better future, but that's it. I think the film was trying to achieve that, but it didn't quite make it there. Still great regardless.
After reading your complaints...wow man. No disrespect 3814 but I really don't think you got any of what was going on in the movie. I can understand just not 'liking it'...but your complaints are pretty well explained in the whole thing (as halfbreed pointed out).
I thought the ending was rushed. I liked how it ended, just wish the movie was a little bit longer. More flashbacks would have been nice but other than that I liked it.
So in your opinions (for those of you who've seen both)... Was it more of a remake of Omega Man, or more of a retread, re-tell of the novel?
They went with the "we're going to radically alter the book" and throw in some Omega Man references. Omega Man is such a classic/cult post apocalyptic film. I still love the scene when Chuck negotiates with the dead car salesman and litterally drives off the lot(through the window and onto the street actually)with the classic Mustang. Will has a nice one in this. It was a rather abrupt ending which again drastically deviated from the book. That said Will Smith has gradually progressed over the years into a fine actor. All in all....watchable 6 - 6 1/2 Just watch Omega Man.
