October 21, 2025 • 41 mins
DJ Nik and Keith Bliss review "I Am Legend" !!! Enjoy ! If you would like to come on and discuss YOUR favourite movie send us a email with your movie of choice to : happinessindarknesshow@gmail.com . Check out our great tiers on Patreon : patreon.com/happinessindarkness !!!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm not effected.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm not effected.
Speaker 3 (00:02):
Please, nothing happened away was supposed to happen six billion
people on the earth when the infection hit. I am
a survivor living in New York City. I will be
at the South Street Seaport every day at midday when
the sun is highest in the sky.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Not just sleep your vegetables, don't just push them around,
eat them. I'm not playing what Hank midway through the jeeves.
(00:50):
God didn't do this. We did.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Job, people, And welcome to our three hundred and fourteenth
episode of Happiness and Darkness, the Superior Movie podcast, where
we discuss superhero movies, the Marvel DC, dark Horse Image
and beyond. Naturally, there will be spoilers, folks, so you
have been warned. I'm one of your co hosts, Dijinek,
and it's always joining me as my superhero partnering her
(01:16):
miss their Keith. But yes, hey Keith, how's live treating
you today?
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Not too bad?
Speaker 5 (01:21):
It's still actually semi warmish out here on the East Coast.
We haven't hit full cold weather yet.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
That'll change next week.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
So today it's still the short sleeves and shorts, but
you know, tomorrow will be, you know, snowing or something
for all I know. Otherwise it's amazing and fantastic and
blah blah blah and so on and so forth.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Well, we always love your optimism over here. Yeah, they
to give a brief weather report. It is chillier even
and I often get odd looks from people with spect
my parents include when I go visit them and I'm
wearing a T shirt and shorts because everybody else is
in long clothes, and my mother often tells me, I
feel cold just looking at you. But that said, today,
(02:00):
we're not here to discuss the weather, folks. They we
are here to discuss I am legend from two thousand
and seven. This was directed by Francis Lawrence. The screenplayers
like Marksevitch and Akiva Goldsman, while the score was by
James Newton Howard and to put in today's money just
for inflation. This movie made quite the killing because it
cost two hundred and thirty four million dollars to make
(02:22):
and it made nine hundred and fourteen million at the
box office. And I think it might have been because
the fact that folks wanting to see an adaptation of
a possible novel which they did not get or novels,
I should say, so, uh Keith, Actually starting with general impressions,
were you familiar with either I Am Legend or the
Omega Man, on which this movie is apparently loosely based,
(02:44):
and what did you make of it?
Speaker 5 (02:47):
I was peripherally familiar with I Am Legend of the
book because of this movie. I was like, Oh, they're
making it in a movie. Let me go check the
book out. And I started reading it. And then as
I was telling you offline, and I lost the book
somewhere in my travels on vacation. So I got to
like the first quarter of the book and to read
the book, and then to watch the movie, and it's
(03:07):
just spoilers so jarringly different. It just kind of ruins
the whole point of me trying to attempt to read
this book. Granted, the book takes place in I believe
the fifties, and then we have present day New York City,
which is two totally different areas. I get the updating
of the initial story because of certain circumstances that go
(03:30):
on in the book that we just don't need to
address in the movie, but the fact that they made
such jarring changes definitely kind of ruins the story because,
as you and I were talking about this offline, it's
a much better book. And you know we say this
time and again the book is always better. Well, in
this instance, the book really is better. I'm not saying
(03:52):
Will Smith did a bad job. I'm saying the story
failed Will Smith. The reason I say that is because
there's a whole myth behind this I Am Legend title,
and we don't see that it makes no sense based
on what is presented to us in this movie. Why
this is called I Am Legend? Because who's the a
(04:15):
legend to It's literally him and a dog, Like who's
the legend?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Like?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Why do we you know?
Speaker 5 (04:22):
There's no explanation to this story or this origin, so
you're just kind of sitting here confused, and you spend
I don't know eighty percent of this movie of him
wandering around New York City doing really dumb crap like
chasing deer with a Mustang opposed to I don't know,
being quiet and hunting like a.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Normal human being.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
So there's weird choices that I liked and there's weird
choices I didn't like. And we'll just go more into
that as we explain, you know, talk about the story,
but it's it's good for an action movie, but terrible
first story.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
I type.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I mean, I do think to a certain extent, we
do get an explanation of the title grewanted. Very different
they compared to Richard Matheson's book, but you know it's
through the character of Anna, which of course will get
to during the course of this review. And I also
have to ask before I give my general impressions, you,
being a big dog person, how did you feel about
the death of Samantha.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
That was watching it years ago? I had no reference
on I hadn't had a dog at that time, but
like watching it now, it is definitely it tugs on
the heartstrings a little bit. What I was kind of
expecting is he injects the dog with something, and I
get it. I believe that he was testing the formula
on the dog, and then the dog tries to attack him,
(05:39):
and he just essentially murders his dog, his vampire dog,
which I understand. But at the same time, he could
have potentially kept the dog chained up and it sounds
terrible to say how it sounds, but tried to cure
the dog because he has a cure. He just hasn't
perfected it yet, so that would have been a great
(06:00):
reference point or a starting point, but obviously it would
have ruined the rest of the story. But it is
what it is, so I'm kind of torn. It's the
I'm crushed because he did it, but he did it
because he didn't want his dog to suffer.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
So it's kind of a you know, it depends on
which we look at it. So it's tough in most
certainly years.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And I will say, folks, you know, of course, as
we said that are spoilers are in the course of
this review. We just spoiled a major one. But I
will say a trigger warning if you are a huge
fan of animals, you might want to look away or
be careful when it comes to watching this because it
is rather I mean rather graphic. Not necessarily too graphic,
but it definitely tugs at the heart strings. As Keith said,
And I was actually got the big review at the
(06:42):
end when it was like sam is not it's not
a male dog, it's actually a female dog. It's your
name is Samantha. And and I think that added even
more to it, if you will, because of some of
the conversations that never has with her. So getting to
the you know, the general impressions here, Like we said,
it is very loosely based on Richard Matheson's novel from
nineteen fifty four. I've not read The Omega Man, so
(07:05):
I don't know how close that is. Maybe there's more
of The Omega Man than is I am Legend in this,
but it does take some significant creative liberties, at least
from Mathieson's novel. What I will say is the early
parts of the film where we see this deserted New
York City being reclaimed by nature, it's very haunting and
it's beautifully shot, and once again it made me think
(07:28):
of what we went through when we went through COVID,
where you had these deserted cities and literally animals and
nature were returning through these urban areas. So it definitely
hit me for that. Also, I did appreciate the mood
that this movie sets, because there's this very strong sense
of loneliness and of loss, and you see these empty
streets and these overgrown buildings and that quiet tension, which
(07:51):
I felt created a very immersive post apocalyptic mood. The
big problem with this film, I would say are the
dark seekers, our mutated humans. They're the biggest visual weakness
because you have this very heavy CGI, which makes them
less frightening and there I say, less believable, and part
of me wishes that practical effects or subtler direction had
(08:14):
been used to maintain the very eerie realism of the setting.
Once again, having gone through COVID, I could literally understand,
or should we say, feel this even more. Also, you know,
as we were talking about Matheson's novel ends with a
much darker and more ironic twist about who the real
legend is. I won't spoil it for you guys in
(08:35):
case you want to read it, because compared to the film,
it becomes more of a redemption arc and the more
hopeful dare I say, Hollywood friendly conclusion. So but by
and large, I'd say, despite its flaws, this movie I
think stands out as one of the better modern survival thrillers.
I found it very gripping. I found it emotionally resonant
and visually memorable. Though the problem was that it does
(08:57):
sacrifice some of the source material more philosophical side to
do something more blockbuster, to look for that blockbuster appeal.
So it's a mixed bag for me. So getting to
our characters on the board grounded not that many to
talk about, but we'll talk about the more important ones.
Let's kick off with a man who would be legends.
We have the aforementioned Will Smith as doctor Robert Neville.
(09:22):
So what did you make of our doctor Keith?
Speaker 5 (09:25):
I mean, I kind of showed my hand in my
initial impressions, but I will continue on my rant. He's
an interesting character. You see that he is working or
attempting to work on a cure for the Screamers, and
he is also trying to survive in New York City
after this outbreak. What didn't make a lot of sense,
(09:47):
and this is just me being me and my crazy
over the top ness, is he is prepared for certain
instances and certain attacks, Like you see him doing things
such as poor I'm assuming either bleach or alcohol out
after he comes home. Why I'm assuming it's to destroy
his scent so they can't track him. Fine, makes sense,
(10:11):
But me personally would have turned my house into I
don't know, Fort Knox, and I would have had solar
lights or that way. If they did come, he could
just turn all these lights on and instantly fry them
instead of surrounding his house with enough Sea four to
level the Empire State building and clearly cause the ending
to happen. And then the scene where he's locked down
(10:35):
in his house but yet sleeping in his bathtub with
the dog because they're afraid.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Of the screamers.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
Well, if he made his house as monster proof as possible,
why is he sleeping in the tub. And I get it,
you could potentially say that he's doing that because of
all the baggage as it were, with the house being
with his now deceased wife and child, and he still
wants some place to rest, so he's sleeping in the tub.
I'm going to go that route because that's the only
(11:02):
thing that would logically make sense. But the weird choices
he makes, like in the beginning of the movie chasing
the pack of deer with a Mustang. People who hunt
know you need to be quiet, not make as much
noise as conceivably flipping possible, and then chase these deer
that are obviously much faster than you, and I have
(11:25):
to point out to our listeners he has a AR
fifteen M sixteen machine gun and he's hunting deer that
shoots a lot of.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
Lead, very far, very quickly. He is a terrible shot.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
In the X number of years since the post apocalyptic,
he's not practiced his aim, but he sures Hell has
enough time to go practice as golf swing. So in
terms of priority, it just doesn't make a lot of sense.
I did chuckle a lot when he was on the Intrepid,
which is the aircraft carrier in New York City. He's
(12:03):
kicking balls off into I guess it's the parking lot
next to it. So that was a fun you know, chuckle,
the weird thing, the weird choy. Another weird choice he
did was when he is trying to h doing his bit.
I'm getting ahead of myself. I apologize, folks. I just
chugged a cup of coffee.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Another one was with all his his experimentation on the
screamers that he just he's gone through I don't know,
like forty of them. Because you have a board in
the back where it's all deceased victims, he doesn't bother
to observe them to look at you know, see you
know are their patterns?
Speaker 4 (12:44):
You know what to you know? What do they do?
What do they don't do?
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Is there any type of, you know, hive mentality, Is
there any any instance of like somebody who could potentially communicate?
Is there intelligence in this group? He just assumes, oh,
the mindless zombies or mindless monsters because of this mutated virus.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
That we've given them.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
But eventually he discovers that, no, it's more of a
hive mentality or a group pack mentality. And there's a leader,
and he happened to kidnap the leader's girlfriend, and that's
why they're coming after him. It's not like, hey, it's Tuesday,
let's go hunt somebody. It is they are literally chasing
him because he has kidnapped their pack leader's significant other.
(13:31):
And you can also argue that the reason why they're
attacking him is because again that murder wall as we're
gonna call it, because of all the deceased screamers that
he has quote unquote tried to cure. So that's why
they hate him. It's not like, again, they're not hunting
him to hunt him. As we see in previous scenes
in the movie. They can live off a deer, they
(13:52):
can live off of other animals. As long as they
get fresh meat, they're fine. They could theoretically function forever
and you know, evolve and do whatever.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Because we don't know.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
They don't show us anything other than mindless monsters, which
I would have preferred, as you had said in the book,
that they kind of explore that a little bit more.
The scenes that we got with him working out unneeded,
going to the video store, all those weird like what
(14:25):
he does during the day when he's not trying to
cure them. I get it. They were trying to show
his being so removed from society he has forgotten, you know,
just basic etiquette. When he does mean another human, he
just turns into like a five year old. He just
incoherently kind of mumbles a little bit. To be fair,
(14:47):
he's also had what.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Two concussions at that point, so he's.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
Got his marbles a little you know, mixed up, and
then he does eventually, you know, reactly made him off
to like human interactions and you're like, oh, yeah, this
is how I talk to a person, this is how
I interact with a child, And oh that's what laughter
sounds like. Because he so used to just watching stuff
from a video store and talking to himself and the dog.
(15:14):
You just, you know, as anybody who lived through COVID will.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Tell you.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
Think your dog is I don't know Rodney Dangerfield, and
you have no idea what another human sounds like after
a certain point. So certain things he did in the
movie just kind of irked me. But I get certain
things they had to do to show his change from
the beginning to where we got to him at the end.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
So I mean, is it good at it? It's Will Smith.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
He's not a horrible actor, it's the story just kind
of didn't know what to do with him.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I definitely agree with you in great points there on
the doc see because because the fact that they tried
to humanize them somewhat, but they don't flesh them out
as much as compared to the original novel. But I
think this movie, you know, brings out a lot when
it comes to the themes, is the big debate between
science and religion to a certain extent, because like you said,
(16:08):
Neville is our military virologists, so he's very much a
man of order and of reason and of discipline. And
you see his daily routines where he's either patrolling the
city or maintaining the lab or working out or broadcasting messages.
And I think that's somewhat shows that he's trying to
cling to structure as a defense against chaos, because he
(16:28):
is a man of science, and this structure isn't just
about survival, it's about maintaining his own sanity, because he's
a man who believes in data and control and cause
and effect, yet he's living the world that defies those principles.
Because that internal conflict I think fuels much of his tension,
because science told him how to fix the world, but
(16:51):
the world broke anyway, so his solidities, so that's obviously
what's driving him crazy. And also his solitude is just
so crush because they portray him, like you said, as
a man talking to mannekins or making small talk at
video stores and maintaining social rituals that don't matter anymore.
And I found these details very heartbreaking because they show
(17:13):
a man trying to simulate normalcy in a vacuum and
his only real connection is with his dog, Samantha, and
I think that bond humanizes him. And of course, as
we mentioned, when sam dies, it's not just the loss
of a companion, it's I think the breaking point where
his very fragile hold on humanity starts to slip, and
(17:34):
I think that moment that he screams in anguish and
lashes out recklessly at the dark seekers captures how close
he is to literally unraveling. And then we get some
of Neville's backstory, and of course we know that his
family dying during the EVA evacuation still haunts him, so
he also carries survivors guilt, and if he was obviously
(17:55):
personally responsible for the virus' spread, since it began as
a human attempt to cure disease, and then you have
his obsessive research, which isn't just about saving the world.
It's very much, as he mentioned this multiple times, about
almost going to atone for what humanity and by extension
he unleashed upon said world. And then you get that
moment obviously when an anethan Appian near the end, and
(18:17):
I think they reawaken his sense of purpose and of faith,
because I think their arrival challenges his belief that he
is not alone and that and of course his sacrifice
in the theatrical ending becomes obviously both literal and symbolic redemption.
So I think at his core, he very much represents
that collision between rational survival and emotional endurance. So he's
(18:38):
the embodiment of humanity's strengths, but also it's blind spots
like guilt or denial, and his tragedy, I think is
that he can't see that life has moved on without
him until it's too late. So a very tragic character
and very well written. But like you said, I think
maybe some scenes could have been made just a little
bit shorter, and we could have had more of the
(18:59):
interaction with the doc seek as possibly. So let's get
to the character who will ultimately carry on Neville's legacy.
We have Alice Braga as Anna. So what did you
make of Anna?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Keith?
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Again, another character that they just didn't feel like doing
too much of a backstory. Her entire backstory takes place
over the conversation of a single Bob Marley song, like Oh,
I woke and heard a voice and I just ran
with it and you're like, okay, cool, let's go, and
you're like, wait what. And I appreciate that, as you mentioned,
with him, he is very much a man of structure,
(19:34):
a man of science. You know, he wants to know
why X does this and why why does that?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
And as you said, he has this structure.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Every day he goes to the movie store, the video store,
rents some quote unquote rants some movie, and then goes
through his daily routines. She, on the other hand, is
very much like, I'm going with the spirit of things.
I am just kind of out on a whim. I
heard a voice or something in my head. I just
said do X and I did that. I turned on
(20:02):
the radio when I heard you, so I came to
where you are and so on and so forth. And
this is I'm just going by the spirit of the almighty,
and we're just gonna go and see where you know,
the wind takes us, for a lack of a better term,
and he is just like, wait, what you did?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Who?
Speaker 4 (20:20):
And the what?
Speaker 5 (20:21):
And he is just like it just completely short circuits
his brain. And I think, as you said, it forces
him to kind of reboot his brain and go, oh yeah,
there's still society out here. There there are potentially humans.
And he even does have that breakdown where he I'm
not gonna say yells at her, but yells at the
math where he breaks down like, okay, x million people
(20:43):
passed away when the virus came out or mutated, rather
when the virus was released, and then those people got
hungry and ate the other x number of people. So potentially,
out of the however many billions of people left on
the planet, there's like two hundred thousand and that's it.
Good luck champ like and you know, so he is
again hard numbers, and she's like, but they're people and
(21:06):
we can find them. And he's like, that doesn't make
any sense. Like he again, he is so ingrained as
his in his rituals that she's trying to break him
of that. And it's not until he starts to see
the signs as she mentions. And you kind of catch
it early on when he is picking corn I think
(21:27):
it was, or in the field with wheat and there's
some butterflies and they go kind of flapping by, and
you're like, oh, it's a butterfly.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
That's cute.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
You don't it doesn't register. And then when he finds
the one dark seeker, and he purely by dumb luck,
grabs the female of the group, the pack leader's girlfriend.
She has a butterfly tattoo, and then again the leader
at the end communicates with them using the butterfly tattoo.
And then he's starting to kind of see the signs.
(21:55):
And if you remember the one ending, the glass breaks
and it looks like a giant butterfly in the glass,
and he's like, oh, I'm starting to see the signs,
and that's why he in one ending gives his life
to save hers. So he is slowly letting go and
she is the pride bar And I like how at
the end of the movie it goes to her narration
(22:19):
when in the beginning of the movie it's him doing
his little hey, I'm alive, come here, blah blah blah,
I have food, where she at the end is like, Okay,
here we are. This is what we're doing, and we're
going to go to the city and we're going to
go meet other survivors. So I like how we transition
from his story to her story. And I hope, as
(22:40):
you and I were talking about this offline, in the sequel,
we get more of her story, even if they have
to because so much time has passed, recast the actress
because obviously it's been several decades at this point, or
they use her and they age up the son of
the child. Either way we progress with her story. That'd
be great to see that she becomes more of the
(23:03):
mother figure from say the movie or the TV series
The Stand from Stephen King, where she's the hope. That
would be kind of a fun twist to add to
this story because as the book goes, she's an original
character and we don't know what's supposed to happen.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
That's the next point I think, like you said, yeah,
because it's going to be almost this movie is now
and twenty years old, so it might make more sense
to have Ethan be our focal point compared to possibly Anna.
I mean, Nanna could obviously still be like Alis Brague.
Of course, he's still alive and kicking, of course, but
it might make more sense because it would, i think,
continue that idea of passing on the legacy and passing
(23:41):
on the torch when it comes to this cure. And yeah,
I mean I pointed out earlier at the top of
this review, and you mentioned this as well, that we
have very much the theme of science versus religion to
a certain extent, because Anna enters the story literally claiming
that she was led to Neville by God, and this
obviously immediately challenges Neville's worldview because, as we said, he's
(24:03):
a man who trusts only in science in data and
verifiable evidence. That's the way he says to God does
not exist. Where was God when all these million people
were dying? And I think her conviction that there is
this colony of survivors in Vermont and that divine purpose
guided her is a directly opposite to his logical framework,
like you said, because she doesn't exist, I think to
(24:23):
prove religion is right or that science is wrong, but
more to confront never with an idea that he has
long ago abandoned, that once again life and meaning might
persist beyond what he can measure scientifically. So by the
time she arrives, I think, like I said, his sanity
is hanging by a thread, and her arrival, along with Ethan,
(24:44):
is very jarring because it forces Neville back into human interaction,
which he has not had in a while. So, like
you were pointing out earlier, he struggles to adapt, giving
her rules, making awkward small talk, and even snapping at her.
But I think Anna's calmness and he compassion, her quiet
strength do help to rehumanize him, and I don't think
(25:04):
she saves him just physically. She reawakens his emotional capacity
to connect and to trust and to believe in something
beyond survival. So she very much I think represents that
possibility of continuity, that life and civilization aren't completely gone,
because we've even seen Neville watching Telly and outside of
in New York City, life is still carrying on, and
(25:27):
she's a confirmation of this. And I think also her
mention of the survivor's colony gives this film a future
no surprise will get a sequel, and she is a
link between I think Neville's dying world and whatever comes next,
because when Nebll dies, she does become the carrier of
his legacy, literally with the cure and also metaphorically with
(25:48):
his story because she'll continue telling this is the man
who brought us the cure, and as you said, her
narration at the end turns Nevill into legend, and you
get that bridge between apocalypse and New All. However, the
big problem with this character, as you rightfully pointed out,
is she isn't very deeply developed as a character, because
we know little or nothing about her backstory, her past losses,
(26:11):
or even what she's going through her internal conflict, and
so she think functions I think more as an archetype.
She is the believer, the new beginning, and we've seen
this in so many movies. I can think of a
really bad one, such as water World, for example, where
you do have this archetypal figure of the believer there
is dry land somewhere and such. So it is kind
of that similar concept, but she's not a full fledged individual.
(26:35):
That's one of the film's weaknesses because her emotional depth,
I think is sacrificed for her symbolic purpose. At the
same time, though within the story structure, it works, and
I think her warmth and conviction can contrast sharply with
Neville's loneliness and his despair. So she's less of a
character study and more of a thematic catalyst, I suppose,
(26:59):
because she's she embodies hope stepping into a world of
a man's world of despair. So I think she is
the answer to the question what's the point of surviving?
And she's there to remind both I think Neville and
us that survival without belief or hope is not living.
So through her, I think Neville finds the reason to
(27:20):
die meaningfully rather than live endlessly in isolation. So she
is very much a hopeful character, and I think once
again having been through COVID, both you and I and
I'm sure quite a few of our listeners today, you
can see that there's that one person's like, we will
get through this eventually, there will be life after this.
So I did very much appreciate it, once again, thinking
(27:41):
of what we've been through as a society, as a
global society, thirteen years after this movie came out. So
is there anything you'd like to mention more about this
film with Keith before we get to ratings.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
No, well, I guess we could talk about the the
faux vampires a little bit. It was interesting to see
that group evolve during the movie because while we only
get to see them for a few brief glimpses, what
we do see we do see structure, We do.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
See them adapting.
Speaker 5 (28:12):
You know, we, just as he did, assume they were
mindless zombies, vampire creature, madjiggers, and we don't realize that, no,
they are living, breathing, actual human beings while mutated, but
they're still human beings. And they were not given the
benefit of the doubt. Everybody just assumed they were, you know,
(28:35):
mindless creatures, and then you find out they have dogs,
which was wild to see that. I was not expecting
these dark Seeking dogs. I was like, wait, what is happening?
Which was kind of cool because we have seen that
in Resident Evil and other movies that have zombies and
so on, that they do like to take interesting twists
(28:55):
with like zombie Deer, which is kind of funny to see.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
That in zombie dogs on.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
So the fact that you saw this leader of the
pack have actual pets, that should have been a red
flag to this person, but he's like, nope, we're just
gonna assume they're dumbedy. It's and it's unfortunate. I hope
that is another avenue they explore if we if slash
when we get the sequel, because it'd be great that
(29:21):
obviously twenty years past, which means theoretically these creatures have
evolved even more or further, so there could be actual
society where it's the dark Seekers and the day Seekers,
because that's what they'll probably start referring to the humans as,
and see if they can coexist.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
That raises a great question. I think it could be. Really,
it would be amazing if they did explore that in
the in the sequel to this, And I agree with you,
I mean, as I said, My big problem with The
Dark Seekers is the CGI because yeah, because of the
the the atmosphere we're trying to create within this film,
as I said, the loneliness and the tension and this
(30:06):
fear of dread around every corner because everything's so quiet
and you don't know what might happen to you. And
I do think that our movie makers here tried in
some way to go with the concepts that are in
the book, that there's more to the Dark Seekers than
just as we've said, mindless mutated humans, and that they
do still have a structure, because they do have some
(30:28):
sort of a society, and it's an ultimately you know,
when we find that we have that final confrontation between
the Dark Seeker's leader and Neville, it does seem even
though he can't speak or vocalize what he's feeling aside
from screaming, it is implied, like you were saying, that
it's because that's his significant other that he is caught
(30:51):
and he has cured her. But maybe in the Dark
Seeker's mind, you've made her sick, You've changed her into
something that's no longer us, And so it is very subtle,
maybe a little bit too subtle, but I did appreciate
what they tried to do here, but I would have
once again appreciated more that these the dark seekers we
were able to vocalize and say things and such. So
(31:13):
it's a good attempt, but I think it's the weaker
part of the film, especially once again the CGI, because
it does sadly, it does not hold up today you
can really tell it's really showing it's this movie is
really showing its age when it comes to CGI. But
then again, at the time, it was a pretty new
technology like you and I talked about when we discussed ultraviolet,
(31:33):
so here is the same kind of thing. So I
was like, oh, this is so cool. So probably at
the time when you went to the theater to see this,
it might have been more impressive. Almost twenty years down
the line, not so much. So once again I kind
of wish that we'd had more practical effects and less CGI.
But once again, when humankind finds a new technology, they
will go to town with it and forget anything else, So
(31:56):
that is the problem. But I did appreciate that that
we did to try to humanize these soap called monsters,
and hopefully, to your point, we will get more of
that interaction when we eventually get our sequel. So getting
into ratings, Keith, what do you give I am Legends
out of ten?
Speaker 5 (32:15):
This is going to be another one in my patent
pending sevens out of ten. It's not a terrible movie.
It's not an amazing movie. There's a lot of potential.
As you said, the CGI definitely lets us down, and
we spend a little too much time focusing on the
miscellaneous crap and not enough time on actual the core story.
(32:39):
So I think if Slash one, as I said, before
we get a sequel, they give us a little bit
more meat on the bone.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
I'm right there with you. I'm going to give this
a seven as well, because the things that are good
are really good. I think it's a very well shot film.
I really appreciated that. From a cinematography perspective, I think
it is very well shot. I do think that our
actors do the best they can with what they're given.
I think this is one of Will's stronger performances. I mean,
he has done quite a few great movies, but this,
(33:10):
I think, is to play a character like this who's
been living in isolation for so long, it takes a
certain kind of actor to bring that through and make
you feel what he's feeling. And I think, once again,
it makes it even more relatable. And we granted we've
not business as much of a Nightmary scenario as this,
as this is compared to COVID, but let's be honest,
it was pretty bad as well. So I think looking
(33:32):
at it through that lens, it makes it even more
relatable and understandable and you can literally feel what he's feeling.
And I think Alice but Agad does a great job
to being this counterpoint and contrast to Neville, and that
works really really well. But the movie does let us
down when it comes to the Dark Seekers being underdeveloped,
and yes, the CGI failed it, so that's where I'm
(33:54):
docking points too. So it's seven out of ten for me.
So getting us to recommendations, mister Bliss, what would you
like to recommend to our listeners this week?
Speaker 5 (34:04):
So I'm gonna go with some really random stuff and
this will just show you how much of a movie
nut job I am.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
So.
Speaker 5 (34:12):
A movie I would recommend if you want to talk
about isolation and having to adapt to harsh environments is
an old movie called Enemy Mine and it had Dennis
Quaid in it, and it is outer space sci fi,
but the core of the story is very similar to this.
And then I'm gonna go with another weird old rando
(34:33):
old movie is Last Man on Earth and then The
Omega Man. So I feel like some of good old
Charlton Heston go check that out.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Those are great recommendations, though, because since apparent this movie
is partly based on The Omega Man, so I guess
folks can definitely check that out. So those are great.
Speaking of isolation, I think the movie that comes to
mind with me is I'm going to go with two
on one side, if you really feel the need to
check out World. I mean, not the best movie you
ever known to mankind, but I think it brings some
(35:05):
of the themes and concepts that we see here. Granted,
I think this film does it way better than water
World does. And on the other I would also suggest
Castaway because it's once again a movie about somebody literally
being on their own and having to adapt with loneliness
and survival and isolation and what have you. There it's
at least here Neville has a dog, Tom Hanks has
(35:30):
a football.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
So.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Which is not obviously the same but it's really really
well done to fantastic film folks, So if you have
not seen it, definitely check it out, just because once
again it's Tom Hanks and we love Tom Hanks very dearly, at.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Least I do.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
So those are my suggestions for the week. So, dear listeners,
if you want to share your thoughts on everything the
moves we discussed here on the podcast, you know what
to do. You can of course hit us up and
shoot us an email too, Happiness and Darkness how at
gmail dot com Once again, Happiness and Darkness how at
(36:05):
gmail dot com. You should have follow us on our
social media if you're not doing so already, you can
find us on Facebook as Happiness and Darkness or of
course on x We're at High Darkness pod. And if
you are listening to us on your whatever platform of
choice be it Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, you name it,
should to rate and review us, as that keeps the
algorithm stimulated and allows a little podcast to grow reach
(36:28):
more like minded ears like yours. As always tell your friends,
tell your enemies. We don't care, just spread the good
word and the big thank you those who have done so.
In the future, thank you to those who will so Keith,
when you're not here discussing survival thrillers and how to
live and live another day when you have dark seekers
at your door? Where can folks find you on the interwebs?
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Currently doomsday prepping and trying to cure the next apocalypse?
And what I'm not doing that I was on check
me out on Star Trek The Undiscovered podcast. Did a
handful of those episodes Real Reactions, did a couple or
any episode of that. I keep thinking I've done more
for some reason. Hour of Comics. We've just recently did
an episode a couple of months ago for one of
(37:12):
my favorite movies. And then I have a couple of
little projects kicking around in the near future that you'll
hear me on about more random stuff. And then when
I'm not doing any of that, you can find me
on our Facebook page, always around to talk about cartoons,
com books, enemy whatever.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
And our man. Keith is a wealth of information when
it comes to said topics, Folks that definitely sure of
hit him up because he always has great stories to
tell and there it can give you all sorts of
advice and also crib notes when it comes to certain
shows like he has done for me, and I was
incredibly grateful for him when he does that when it
comes to me, folks, you can find me hosting the
(37:48):
radio show Whiskey and Cigarettes where we play the very
best and nothing but the best of country music for
you guys from Malabama to Zach Brown. For more information
about that, you can visitur website which is Whiskey and
Cigarettes show dot com. Podcast Wise, you can find myself,
Rachel Friend and Zan Sprouse on gold Standard the Oscars podcast,
where we have reviewed all the Best Picture winning movies
(38:10):
in chronological order. As we wait for the ninety eighth
Best Picture to review itself. We are reviewing movies that
we have picked and we also have new and returning
guest co hosts bring their favorite films to the gold
Standard Theater. We recently reviewed Zan's selection Fatso from nineteen
eighty directed and written by Anne Bancroft, to tired directorial debut.
(38:30):
Coming up next to Honor the Memory of the Wonderful
Robert Redford, we are going to be having Dave Proctor
making his debut at the gold Standard Theater and the
movie that Dave has selected when it comes to the
Redford filmography is Butch Cassidy and The Sun Dance Kid,
So you get Paul Newman and Robert Redford, so the
Terrific too or the Dynamic Duo. If you will, we'll
(38:53):
be there on the screen for you and be looking
forward to discussing that with of course Zan Rachel and
Dave and the last but certainly not least of course
myself and Charles Skaggs can be found on the fandom
Zone podcast. We recently reviewed the second season of Peacemaker.
We're now on a temporary hiatus as we wait for
our next project to resurface, which will be in twenty
twenty six when we review wonder Man. So the first
(39:16):
season of the MCUTV show. So very curious to see
how that pans out and what it will look like.
And speaking is to come on this show next time.
A friend of the podcast, Head of the Door, will
we were returning to Happiness and Darkness and the movie
that she'll be check discussing us with us will be
the nineteen ninety four Henry Selick film The Nightmare before Christmas. So, Keith,
(39:41):
anything you'd like to add on our upcoming movie or
anything else before we sign off.
Speaker 5 (39:47):
I mean, I would rather say our frenemie Mike, we
go with friends.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
It's fine, it is what it is. I'm not gonna
be mad.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
But yeah, you know, this is a movie we all
of us have seen about eight thousand times and probably
could a huminer sleeps, so it shouldn't be a surprise
to the rest of us.
Speaker 4 (40:04):
Very true.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
So I guess we'll see what Heather makes of it
and what we make of it on our nth rewatch
and review of it. So, folks, thanks as alwaysist show
and supporting us. We will see you next time with
the Nightmare before Christmas seeing out spooky season. Until then,
thank you so much for a privilege of your time.
Stay super chow Mopeople
I'm not effected.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm not effected.
Speaker 3 (00:02):
Please, nothing happened away was supposed to happen six billion
people on the earth when the infection hit. I am
a survivor living in New York City. I will be
at the South Street Seaport every day at midday when
the sun is highest in the sky.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Not just sleep your vegetables, don't just push them around,
eat them. I'm not playing what Hank midway through the jeeves.
(00:50):
God didn't do this. We did.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Job, people, And welcome to our three hundred and fourteenth
episode of Happiness and Darkness, the Superior Movie podcast, where
we discuss superhero movies, the Marvel DC, dark Horse Image
and beyond. Naturally, there will be spoilers, folks, so you
have been warned. I'm one of your co hosts, Dijinek,
and it's always joining me as my superhero partnering her
(01:16):
miss their Keith. But yes, hey Keith, how's live treating
you today?
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Not too bad?
Speaker 5 (01:21):
It's still actually semi warmish out here on the East Coast.
We haven't hit full cold weather yet.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
That'll change next week.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
So today it's still the short sleeves and shorts, but
you know, tomorrow will be, you know, snowing or something
for all I know. Otherwise it's amazing and fantastic and
blah blah blah and so on and so forth.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Well, we always love your optimism over here. Yeah, they
to give a brief weather report. It is chillier even
and I often get odd looks from people with spect
my parents include when I go visit them and I'm
wearing a T shirt and shorts because everybody else is
in long clothes, and my mother often tells me, I
feel cold just looking at you. But that said, today,
(02:00):
we're not here to discuss the weather, folks. They we
are here to discuss I am legend from two thousand
and seven. This was directed by Francis Lawrence. The screenplayers
like Marksevitch and Akiva Goldsman, while the score was by
James Newton Howard and to put in today's money just
for inflation. This movie made quite the killing because it
cost two hundred and thirty four million dollars to make
(02:22):
and it made nine hundred and fourteen million at the
box office. And I think it might have been because
the fact that folks wanting to see an adaptation of
a possible novel which they did not get or novels,
I should say, so, uh Keith, Actually starting with general impressions,
were you familiar with either I Am Legend or the
Omega Man, on which this movie is apparently loosely based,
(02:44):
and what did you make of it?
Speaker 5 (02:47):
I was peripherally familiar with I Am Legend of the
book because of this movie. I was like, Oh, they're
making it in a movie. Let me go check the
book out. And I started reading it. And then as
I was telling you offline, and I lost the book
somewhere in my travels on vacation. So I got to
like the first quarter of the book and to read
the book, and then to watch the movie, and it's
(03:07):
just spoilers so jarringly different. It just kind of ruins
the whole point of me trying to attempt to read
this book. Granted, the book takes place in I believe
the fifties, and then we have present day New York City,
which is two totally different areas. I get the updating
of the initial story because of certain circumstances that go
(03:30):
on in the book that we just don't need to
address in the movie, but the fact that they made
such jarring changes definitely kind of ruins the story because,
as you and I were talking about this offline, it's
a much better book. And you know we say this
time and again the book is always better. Well, in
this instance, the book really is better. I'm not saying
(03:52):
Will Smith did a bad job. I'm saying the story
failed Will Smith. The reason I say that is because
there's a whole myth behind this I Am Legend title,
and we don't see that it makes no sense based
on what is presented to us in this movie. Why
this is called I Am Legend? Because who's the a
(04:15):
legend to It's literally him and a dog, Like who's
the legend?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Like?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Why do we you know?
Speaker 5 (04:22):
There's no explanation to this story or this origin, so
you're just kind of sitting here confused, and you spend
I don't know eighty percent of this movie of him
wandering around New York City doing really dumb crap like
chasing deer with a Mustang opposed to I don't know,
being quiet and hunting like a.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Normal human being.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
So there's weird choices that I liked and there's weird
choices I didn't like. And we'll just go more into
that as we explain, you know, talk about the story,
but it's it's good for an action movie, but terrible
first story.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
I type.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I mean, I do think to a certain extent, we
do get an explanation of the title grewanted. Very different
they compared to Richard Matheson's book, but you know it's
through the character of Anna, which of course will get
to during the course of this review. And I also
have to ask before I give my general impressions, you,
being a big dog person, how did you feel about
the death of Samantha.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
That was watching it years ago? I had no reference
on I hadn't had a dog at that time, but
like watching it now, it is definitely it tugs on
the heartstrings a little bit. What I was kind of
expecting is he injects the dog with something, and I
get it. I believe that he was testing the formula
on the dog, and then the dog tries to attack him,
(05:39):
and he just essentially murders his dog, his vampire dog,
which I understand. But at the same time, he could
have potentially kept the dog chained up and it sounds
terrible to say how it sounds, but tried to cure
the dog because he has a cure. He just hasn't
perfected it yet, so that would have been a great
(06:00):
reference point or a starting point, but obviously it would
have ruined the rest of the story. But it is
what it is, so I'm kind of torn. It's the
I'm crushed because he did it, but he did it
because he didn't want his dog to suffer.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
So it's kind of a you know, it depends on
which we look at it. So it's tough in most
certainly years.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And I will say, folks, you know, of course, as
we said that are spoilers are in the course of
this review. We just spoiled a major one. But I
will say a trigger warning if you are a huge
fan of animals, you might want to look away or
be careful when it comes to watching this because it
is rather I mean rather graphic. Not necessarily too graphic,
but it definitely tugs at the heart strings. As Keith said,
And I was actually got the big review at the
(06:42):
end when it was like sam is not it's not
a male dog, it's actually a female dog. It's your
name is Samantha. And and I think that added even
more to it, if you will, because of some of
the conversations that never has with her. So getting to
the you know, the general impressions here, Like we said,
it is very loosely based on Richard Matheson's novel from
nineteen fifty four. I've not read The Omega Man, so
(07:05):
I don't know how close that is. Maybe there's more
of The Omega Man than is I am Legend in this,
but it does take some significant creative liberties, at least
from Mathieson's novel. What I will say is the early
parts of the film where we see this deserted New
York City being reclaimed by nature, it's very haunting and
it's beautifully shot, and once again it made me think
(07:28):
of what we went through when we went through COVID,
where you had these deserted cities and literally animals and
nature were returning through these urban areas. So it definitely
hit me for that. Also, I did appreciate the mood
that this movie sets, because there's this very strong sense
of loneliness and of loss, and you see these empty
streets and these overgrown buildings and that quiet tension, which
(07:51):
I felt created a very immersive post apocalyptic mood. The
big problem with this film, I would say are the
dark seekers, our mutated humans. They're the biggest visual weakness
because you have this very heavy CGI, which makes them
less frightening and there I say, less believable, and part
of me wishes that practical effects or subtler direction had
(08:14):
been used to maintain the very eerie realism of the setting.
Once again, having gone through COVID, I could literally understand,
or should we say, feel this even more. Also, you know,
as we were talking about Matheson's novel ends with a
much darker and more ironic twist about who the real
legend is. I won't spoil it for you guys in
(08:35):
case you want to read it, because compared to the film,
it becomes more of a redemption arc and the more
hopeful dare I say, Hollywood friendly conclusion. So but by
and large, I'd say, despite its flaws, this movie I
think stands out as one of the better modern survival thrillers.
I found it very gripping. I found it emotionally resonant
and visually memorable. Though the problem was that it does
(08:57):
sacrifice some of the source material more philosophical side to
do something more blockbuster, to look for that blockbuster appeal.
So it's a mixed bag for me. So getting to
our characters on the board grounded not that many to
talk about, but we'll talk about the more important ones.
Let's kick off with a man who would be legends.
We have the aforementioned Will Smith as doctor Robert Neville.
(09:22):
So what did you make of our doctor Keith?
Speaker 5 (09:25):
I mean, I kind of showed my hand in my
initial impressions, but I will continue on my rant. He's
an interesting character. You see that he is working or
attempting to work on a cure for the Screamers, and
he is also trying to survive in New York City
after this outbreak. What didn't make a lot of sense,
(09:47):
and this is just me being me and my crazy
over the top ness, is he is prepared for certain
instances and certain attacks, Like you see him doing things
such as poor I'm assuming either bleach or alcohol out
after he comes home. Why I'm assuming it's to destroy
his scent so they can't track him. Fine, makes sense,
(10:11):
But me personally would have turned my house into I
don't know, Fort Knox, and I would have had solar
lights or that way. If they did come, he could
just turn all these lights on and instantly fry them
instead of surrounding his house with enough Sea four to
level the Empire State building and clearly cause the ending
to happen. And then the scene where he's locked down
(10:35):
in his house but yet sleeping in his bathtub with
the dog because they're afraid.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Of the screamers.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
Well, if he made his house as monster proof as possible,
why is he sleeping in the tub. And I get it,
you could potentially say that he's doing that because of
all the baggage as it were, with the house being
with his now deceased wife and child, and he still
wants some place to rest, so he's sleeping in the tub.
I'm going to go that route because that's the only
(11:02):
thing that would logically make sense. But the weird choices
he makes, like in the beginning of the movie chasing
the pack of deer with a Mustang. People who hunt
know you need to be quiet, not make as much
noise as conceivably flipping possible, and then chase these deer
that are obviously much faster than you, and I have
(11:25):
to point out to our listeners he has a AR
fifteen M sixteen machine gun and he's hunting deer that
shoots a lot of.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
Lead, very far, very quickly. He is a terrible shot.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
In the X number of years since the post apocalyptic,
he's not practiced his aim, but he sures Hell has
enough time to go practice as golf swing. So in
terms of priority, it just doesn't make a lot of sense.
I did chuckle a lot when he was on the Intrepid,
which is the aircraft carrier in New York City. He's
(12:03):
kicking balls off into I guess it's the parking lot
next to it. So that was a fun you know, chuckle,
the weird thing, the weird choy. Another weird choice he
did was when he is trying to h doing his bit.
I'm getting ahead of myself. I apologize, folks. I just
chugged a cup of coffee.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Another one was with all his his experimentation on the
screamers that he just he's gone through I don't know,
like forty of them. Because you have a board in
the back where it's all deceased victims, he doesn't bother
to observe them to look at you know, see you
know are their patterns?
Speaker 4 (12:44):
You know what to you know? What do they do?
What do they don't do?
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Is there any type of, you know, hive mentality, Is
there any any instance of like somebody who could potentially communicate?
Is there intelligence in this group? He just assumes, oh,
the mindless zombies or mindless monsters because of this mutated virus.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
That we've given them.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
But eventually he discovers that, no, it's more of a
hive mentality or a group pack mentality. And there's a leader,
and he happened to kidnap the leader's girlfriend, and that's
why they're coming after him. It's not like, hey, it's Tuesday,
let's go hunt somebody. It is they are literally chasing
him because he has kidnapped their pack leader's significant other.
(13:31):
And you can also argue that the reason why they're
attacking him is because again that murder wall as we're
gonna call it, because of all the deceased screamers that
he has quote unquote tried to cure. So that's why
they hate him. It's not like, again, they're not hunting
him to hunt him. As we see in previous scenes
in the movie. They can live off a deer, they
(13:52):
can live off of other animals. As long as they
get fresh meat, they're fine. They could theoretically function forever
and you know, evolve and do whatever.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Because we don't know.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
They don't show us anything other than mindless monsters, which
I would have preferred, as you had said in the book,
that they kind of explore that a little bit more.
The scenes that we got with him working out unneeded,
going to the video store, all those weird like what
(14:25):
he does during the day when he's not trying to
cure them. I get it. They were trying to show
his being so removed from society he has forgotten, you know,
just basic etiquette. When he does mean another human, he
just turns into like a five year old. He just
incoherently kind of mumbles a little bit. To be fair,
(14:47):
he's also had what.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Two concussions at that point, so he's.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
Got his marbles a little you know, mixed up, and
then he does eventually, you know, reactly made him off
to like human interactions and you're like, oh, yeah, this
is how I talk to a person, this is how
I interact with a child, And oh that's what laughter
sounds like. Because he so used to just watching stuff
from a video store and talking to himself and the dog.
(15:14):
You just, you know, as anybody who lived through COVID will.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Tell you.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
Think your dog is I don't know Rodney Dangerfield, and
you have no idea what another human sounds like after
a certain point. So certain things he did in the
movie just kind of irked me. But I get certain
things they had to do to show his change from
the beginning to where we got to him at the end.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
So I mean, is it good at it? It's Will Smith.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
He's not a horrible actor, it's the story just kind
of didn't know what to do with him.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I definitely agree with you in great points there on
the doc see because because the fact that they tried
to humanize them somewhat, but they don't flesh them out
as much as compared to the original novel. But I
think this movie, you know, brings out a lot when
it comes to the themes, is the big debate between
science and religion to a certain extent, because like you said,
(16:08):
Neville is our military virologists, so he's very much a
man of order and of reason and of discipline. And
you see his daily routines where he's either patrolling the
city or maintaining the lab or working out or broadcasting messages.
And I think that's somewhat shows that he's trying to
cling to structure as a defense against chaos, because he
(16:28):
is a man of science, and this structure isn't just
about survival, it's about maintaining his own sanity, because he's
a man who believes in data and control and cause
and effect, yet he's living the world that defies those principles.
Because that internal conflict I think fuels much of his tension,
because science told him how to fix the world, but
(16:51):
the world broke anyway, so his solidities, so that's obviously
what's driving him crazy. And also his solitude is just
so crush because they portray him, like you said, as
a man talking to mannekins or making small talk at
video stores and maintaining social rituals that don't matter anymore.
And I found these details very heartbreaking because they show
(17:13):
a man trying to simulate normalcy in a vacuum and
his only real connection is with his dog, Samantha, and
I think that bond humanizes him. And of course, as
we mentioned, when sam dies, it's not just the loss
of a companion, it's I think the breaking point where
his very fragile hold on humanity starts to slip, and
(17:34):
I think that moment that he screams in anguish and
lashes out recklessly at the dark seekers captures how close
he is to literally unraveling. And then we get some
of Neville's backstory, and of course we know that his
family dying during the EVA evacuation still haunts him, so
he also carries survivors guilt, and if he was obviously
(17:55):
personally responsible for the virus' spread, since it began as
a human attempt to cure disease, and then you have
his obsessive research, which isn't just about saving the world.
It's very much, as he mentioned this multiple times, about
almost going to atone for what humanity and by extension
he unleashed upon said world. And then you get that
moment obviously when an anethan Appian near the end, and
(18:17):
I think they reawaken his sense of purpose and of faith,
because I think their arrival challenges his belief that he
is not alone and that and of course his sacrifice
in the theatrical ending becomes obviously both literal and symbolic redemption.
So I think at his core, he very much represents
that collision between rational survival and emotional endurance. So he's
(18:38):
the embodiment of humanity's strengths, but also it's blind spots
like guilt or denial, and his tragedy, I think is
that he can't see that life has moved on without
him until it's too late. So a very tragic character
and very well written. But like you said, I think
maybe some scenes could have been made just a little
bit shorter, and we could have had more of the
(18:59):
interaction with the doc seek as possibly. So let's get
to the character who will ultimately carry on Neville's legacy.
We have Alice Braga as Anna. So what did you
make of Anna?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Keith?
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Again, another character that they just didn't feel like doing
too much of a backstory. Her entire backstory takes place
over the conversation of a single Bob Marley song, like Oh,
I woke and heard a voice and I just ran
with it and you're like, okay, cool, let's go, and
you're like, wait what. And I appreciate that, as you mentioned,
with him, he is very much a man of structure,
(19:34):
a man of science. You know, he wants to know
why X does this and why why does that?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
And as you said, he has this structure.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Every day he goes to the movie store, the video store,
rents some quote unquote rants some movie, and then goes
through his daily routines. She, on the other hand, is
very much like, I'm going with the spirit of things.
I am just kind of out on a whim. I
heard a voice or something in my head. I just
said do X and I did that. I turned on
(20:02):
the radio when I heard you, so I came to
where you are and so on and so forth. And
this is I'm just going by the spirit of the almighty,
and we're just gonna go and see where you know,
the wind takes us, for a lack of a better term,
and he is just like, wait, what you did?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Who?
Speaker 4 (20:20):
And the what?
Speaker 5 (20:21):
And he is just like it just completely short circuits
his brain. And I think, as you said, it forces
him to kind of reboot his brain and go, oh yeah,
there's still society out here. There there are potentially humans.
And he even does have that breakdown where he I'm
not gonna say yells at her, but yells at the
math where he breaks down like, okay, x million people
(20:43):
passed away when the virus came out or mutated, rather
when the virus was released, and then those people got
hungry and ate the other x number of people. So potentially,
out of the however many billions of people left on
the planet, there's like two hundred thousand and that's it.
Good luck champ like and you know, so he is
again hard numbers, and she's like, but they're people and
(21:06):
we can find them. And he's like, that doesn't make
any sense. Like he again, he is so ingrained as
his in his rituals that she's trying to break him
of that. And it's not until he starts to see
the signs as she mentions. And you kind of catch
it early on when he is picking corn I think
(21:27):
it was, or in the field with wheat and there's
some butterflies and they go kind of flapping by, and
you're like, oh, it's a butterfly.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
That's cute.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
You don't it doesn't register. And then when he finds
the one dark seeker, and he purely by dumb luck,
grabs the female of the group, the pack leader's girlfriend.
She has a butterfly tattoo, and then again the leader
at the end communicates with them using the butterfly tattoo.
And then he's starting to kind of see the signs.
(21:55):
And if you remember the one ending, the glass breaks
and it looks like a giant butterfly in the glass,
and he's like, oh, I'm starting to see the signs,
and that's why he in one ending gives his life
to save hers. So he is slowly letting go and
she is the pride bar And I like how at
the end of the movie it goes to her narration
(22:19):
when in the beginning of the movie it's him doing
his little hey, I'm alive, come here, blah blah blah,
I have food, where she at the end is like, Okay,
here we are. This is what we're doing, and we're
going to go to the city and we're going to
go meet other survivors. So I like how we transition
from his story to her story. And I hope, as
(22:40):
you and I were talking about this offline, in the sequel,
we get more of her story, even if they have
to because so much time has passed, recast the actress
because obviously it's been several decades at this point, or
they use her and they age up the son of
the child. Either way we progress with her story. That'd
be great to see that she becomes more of the
(23:03):
mother figure from say the movie or the TV series
The Stand from Stephen King, where she's the hope. That
would be kind of a fun twist to add to
this story because as the book goes, she's an original
character and we don't know what's supposed to happen.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
That's the next point I think, like you said, yeah,
because it's going to be almost this movie is now
and twenty years old, so it might make more sense
to have Ethan be our focal point compared to possibly Anna.
I mean, Nanna could obviously still be like Alis Brague.
Of course, he's still alive and kicking, of course, but
it might make more sense because it would, i think,
continue that idea of passing on the legacy and passing
(23:41):
on the torch when it comes to this cure. And yeah,
I mean I pointed out earlier at the top of
this review, and you mentioned this as well, that we
have very much the theme of science versus religion to
a certain extent, because Anna enters the story literally claiming
that she was led to Neville by God, and this
obviously immediately challenges Neville's worldview because, as we said, he's
(24:03):
a man who trusts only in science in data and
verifiable evidence. That's the way he says to God does
not exist. Where was God when all these million people
were dying? And I think her conviction that there is
this colony of survivors in Vermont and that divine purpose
guided her is a directly opposite to his logical framework,
like you said, because she doesn't exist, I think to
(24:23):
prove religion is right or that science is wrong, but
more to confront never with an idea that he has
long ago abandoned, that once again life and meaning might
persist beyond what he can measure scientifically. So by the
time she arrives, I think, like I said, his sanity
is hanging by a thread, and her arrival, along with Ethan,
(24:44):
is very jarring because it forces Neville back into human interaction,
which he has not had in a while. So, like
you were pointing out earlier, he struggles to adapt, giving
her rules, making awkward small talk, and even snapping at her.
But I think Anna's calmness and he compassion, her quiet
strength do help to rehumanize him, and I don't think
(25:04):
she saves him just physically. She reawakens his emotional capacity
to connect and to trust and to believe in something
beyond survival. So she very much I think represents that
possibility of continuity, that life and civilization aren't completely gone,
because we've even seen Neville watching Telly and outside of
in New York City, life is still carrying on, and
(25:27):
she's a confirmation of this. And I think also her
mention of the survivor's colony gives this film a future
no surprise will get a sequel, and she is a
link between I think Neville's dying world and whatever comes next,
because when Nebll dies, she does become the carrier of
his legacy, literally with the cure and also metaphorically with
(25:48):
his story because she'll continue telling this is the man
who brought us the cure, and as you said, her
narration at the end turns Nevill into legend, and you
get that bridge between apocalypse and New All. However, the
big problem with this character, as you rightfully pointed out,
is she isn't very deeply developed as a character, because
we know little or nothing about her backstory, her past losses,
(26:11):
or even what she's going through her internal conflict, and
so she think functions I think more as an archetype.
She is the believer, the new beginning, and we've seen
this in so many movies. I can think of a
really bad one, such as water World, for example, where
you do have this archetypal figure of the believer there
is dry land somewhere and such. So it is kind
of that similar concept, but she's not a full fledged individual.
(26:35):
That's one of the film's weaknesses because her emotional depth,
I think is sacrificed for her symbolic purpose. At the
same time, though within the story structure, it works, and
I think her warmth and conviction can contrast sharply with
Neville's loneliness and his despair. So she's less of a
character study and more of a thematic catalyst, I suppose,
(26:59):
because she's she embodies hope stepping into a world of
a man's world of despair. So I think she is
the answer to the question what's the point of surviving?
And she's there to remind both I think Neville and
us that survival without belief or hope is not living.
So through her, I think Neville finds the reason to
(27:20):
die meaningfully rather than live endlessly in isolation. So she
is very much a hopeful character, and I think once
again having been through COVID, both you and I and
I'm sure quite a few of our listeners today, you
can see that there's that one person's like, we will
get through this eventually, there will be life after this.
So I did very much appreciate it, once again, thinking
(27:41):
of what we've been through as a society, as a
global society, thirteen years after this movie came out. So
is there anything you'd like to mention more about this
film with Keith before we get to ratings.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
No, well, I guess we could talk about the the
faux vampires a little bit. It was interesting to see
that group evolve during the movie because while we only
get to see them for a few brief glimpses, what
we do see we do see structure, We do.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
See them adapting.
Speaker 5 (28:12):
You know, we, just as he did, assume they were
mindless zombies, vampire creature, madjiggers, and we don't realize that, no,
they are living, breathing, actual human beings while mutated, but
they're still human beings. And they were not given the
benefit of the doubt. Everybody just assumed they were, you know,
(28:35):
mindless creatures, and then you find out they have dogs,
which was wild to see that. I was not expecting
these dark Seeking dogs. I was like, wait, what is happening?
Which was kind of cool because we have seen that
in Resident Evil and other movies that have zombies and
so on, that they do like to take interesting twists
(28:55):
with like zombie Deer, which is kind of funny to see.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
That in zombie dogs on.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
So the fact that you saw this leader of the
pack have actual pets, that should have been a red
flag to this person, but he's like, nope, we're just
gonna assume they're dumbedy. It's and it's unfortunate. I hope
that is another avenue they explore if we if slash
when we get the sequel, because it'd be great that
(29:21):
obviously twenty years past, which means theoretically these creatures have
evolved even more or further, so there could be actual
society where it's the dark Seekers and the day Seekers,
because that's what they'll probably start referring to the humans as,
and see if they can coexist.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
That raises a great question. I think it could be. Really,
it would be amazing if they did explore that in
the in the sequel to this, And I agree with you,
I mean, as I said, My big problem with The
Dark Seekers is the CGI because yeah, because of the
the the atmosphere we're trying to create within this film,
as I said, the loneliness and the tension and this
(30:06):
fear of dread around every corner because everything's so quiet
and you don't know what might happen to you. And
I do think that our movie makers here tried in
some way to go with the concepts that are in
the book, that there's more to the Dark Seekers than
just as we've said, mindless mutated humans, and that they
do still have a structure, because they do have some
(30:28):
sort of a society, and it's an ultimately you know,
when we find that we have that final confrontation between
the Dark Seeker's leader and Neville, it does seem even
though he can't speak or vocalize what he's feeling aside
from screaming, it is implied, like you were saying, that
it's because that's his significant other that he is caught
(30:51):
and he has cured her. But maybe in the Dark
Seeker's mind, you've made her sick, You've changed her into
something that's no longer us, And so it is very subtle,
maybe a little bit too subtle, but I did appreciate
what they tried to do here, but I would have
once again appreciated more that these the dark seekers we
were able to vocalize and say things and such. So
(31:13):
it's a good attempt, but I think it's the weaker
part of the film, especially once again the CGI, because
it does sadly, it does not hold up today you
can really tell it's really showing it's this movie is
really showing its age when it comes to CGI. But
then again, at the time, it was a pretty new
technology like you and I talked about when we discussed ultraviolet,
(31:33):
so here is the same kind of thing. So I
was like, oh, this is so cool. So probably at
the time when you went to the theater to see this,
it might have been more impressive. Almost twenty years down
the line, not so much. So once again I kind
of wish that we'd had more practical effects and less CGI.
But once again, when humankind finds a new technology, they
will go to town with it and forget anything else, So
(31:56):
that is the problem. But I did appreciate that that
we did to try to humanize these soap called monsters,
and hopefully, to your point, we will get more of
that interaction when we eventually get our sequel. So getting
into ratings, Keith, what do you give I am Legends
out of ten?
Speaker 5 (32:15):
This is going to be another one in my patent
pending sevens out of ten. It's not a terrible movie.
It's not an amazing movie. There's a lot of potential.
As you said, the CGI definitely lets us down, and
we spend a little too much time focusing on the
miscellaneous crap and not enough time on actual the core story.
(32:39):
So I think if Slash one, as I said, before
we get a sequel, they give us a little bit
more meat on the bone.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
I'm right there with you. I'm going to give this
a seven as well, because the things that are good
are really good. I think it's a very well shot film.
I really appreciated that. From a cinematography perspective, I think
it is very well shot. I do think that our
actors do the best they can with what they're given.
I think this is one of Will's stronger performances. I mean,
he has done quite a few great movies, but this,
(33:10):
I think, is to play a character like this who's
been living in isolation for so long, it takes a
certain kind of actor to bring that through and make
you feel what he's feeling. And I think, once again,
it makes it even more relatable. And we granted we've
not business as much of a Nightmary scenario as this,
as this is compared to COVID, but let's be honest,
it was pretty bad as well. So I think looking
(33:32):
at it through that lens, it makes it even more
relatable and understandable and you can literally feel what he's feeling.
And I think Alice but Agad does a great job
to being this counterpoint and contrast to Neville, and that
works really really well. But the movie does let us
down when it comes to the Dark Seekers being underdeveloped,
and yes, the CGI failed it, so that's where I'm
(33:54):
docking points too. So it's seven out of ten for me.
So getting us to recommendations, mister Bliss, what would you
like to recommend to our listeners this week?
Speaker 5 (34:04):
So I'm gonna go with some really random stuff and
this will just show you how much of a movie
nut job I am.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
So.
Speaker 5 (34:12):
A movie I would recommend if you want to talk
about isolation and having to adapt to harsh environments is
an old movie called Enemy Mine and it had Dennis
Quaid in it, and it is outer space sci fi,
but the core of the story is very similar to this.
And then I'm gonna go with another weird old rando
(34:33):
old movie is Last Man on Earth and then The
Omega Man. So I feel like some of good old
Charlton Heston go check that out.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Those are great recommendations, though, because since apparent this movie
is partly based on The Omega Man, so I guess
folks can definitely check that out. So those are great.
Speaking of isolation, I think the movie that comes to
mind with me is I'm going to go with two
on one side, if you really feel the need to
check out World. I mean, not the best movie you
ever known to mankind, but I think it brings some
(35:05):
of the themes and concepts that we see here. Granted,
I think this film does it way better than water
World does. And on the other I would also suggest
Castaway because it's once again a movie about somebody literally
being on their own and having to adapt with loneliness
and survival and isolation and what have you. There it's
at least here Neville has a dog, Tom Hanks has
(35:30):
a football.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
So.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Which is not obviously the same but it's really really
well done to fantastic film folks, So if you have
not seen it, definitely check it out, just because once
again it's Tom Hanks and we love Tom Hanks very dearly, at.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Least I do.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
So those are my suggestions for the week. So, dear listeners,
if you want to share your thoughts on everything the
moves we discussed here on the podcast, you know what
to do. You can of course hit us up and
shoot us an email too, Happiness and Darkness how at
gmail dot com Once again, Happiness and Darkness how at
(36:05):
gmail dot com. You should have follow us on our
social media if you're not doing so already, you can
find us on Facebook as Happiness and Darkness or of
course on x We're at High Darkness pod. And if
you are listening to us on your whatever platform of
choice be it Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, you name it,
should to rate and review us, as that keeps the
algorithm stimulated and allows a little podcast to grow reach
(36:28):
more like minded ears like yours. As always tell your friends,
tell your enemies. We don't care, just spread the good
word and the big thank you those who have done so.
In the future, thank you to those who will so Keith,
when you're not here discussing survival thrillers and how to
live and live another day when you have dark seekers
at your door? Where can folks find you on the interwebs?
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Currently doomsday prepping and trying to cure the next apocalypse?
And what I'm not doing that I was on check
me out on Star Trek The Undiscovered podcast. Did a
handful of those episodes Real Reactions, did a couple or
any episode of that. I keep thinking I've done more
for some reason. Hour of Comics. We've just recently did
an episode a couple of months ago for one of
(37:12):
my favorite movies. And then I have a couple of
little projects kicking around in the near future that you'll
hear me on about more random stuff. And then when
I'm not doing any of that, you can find me
on our Facebook page, always around to talk about cartoons,
com books, enemy whatever.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
And our man. Keith is a wealth of information when
it comes to said topics, Folks that definitely sure of
hit him up because he always has great stories to
tell and there it can give you all sorts of
advice and also crib notes when it comes to certain
shows like he has done for me, and I was
incredibly grateful for him when he does that when it
comes to me, folks, you can find me hosting the
(37:48):
radio show Whiskey and Cigarettes where we play the very
best and nothing but the best of country music for
you guys from Malabama to Zach Brown. For more information
about that, you can visitur website which is Whiskey and
Cigarettes show dot com. Podcast Wise, you can find myself,
Rachel Friend and Zan Sprouse on gold Standard the Oscars podcast,
where we have reviewed all the Best Picture winning movies
(38:10):
in chronological order. As we wait for the ninety eighth
Best Picture to review itself. We are reviewing movies that
we have picked and we also have new and returning
guest co hosts bring their favorite films to the gold
Standard Theater. We recently reviewed Zan's selection Fatso from nineteen
eighty directed and written by Anne Bancroft, to tired directorial debut.
(38:30):
Coming up next to Honor the Memory of the Wonderful
Robert Redford, we are going to be having Dave Proctor
making his debut at the gold Standard Theater and the
movie that Dave has selected when it comes to the
Redford filmography is Butch Cassidy and The Sun Dance Kid,
So you get Paul Newman and Robert Redford, so the
Terrific too or the Dynamic Duo. If you will, we'll
(38:53):
be there on the screen for you and be looking
forward to discussing that with of course Zan Rachel and
Dave and the last but certainly not least of course
myself and Charles Skaggs can be found on the fandom
Zone podcast. We recently reviewed the second season of Peacemaker.
We're now on a temporary hiatus as we wait for
our next project to resurface, which will be in twenty
twenty six when we review wonder Man. So the first
(39:16):
season of the MCUTV show. So very curious to see
how that pans out and what it will look like.
And speaking is to come on this show next time.
A friend of the podcast, Head of the Door, will
we were returning to Happiness and Darkness and the movie
that she'll be check discussing us with us will be
the nineteen ninety four Henry Selick film The Nightmare before Christmas. So, Keith,
(39:41):
anything you'd like to add on our upcoming movie or
anything else before we sign off.
Speaker 5 (39:47):
I mean, I would rather say our frenemie Mike, we
go with friends.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
It's fine, it is what it is. I'm not gonna
be mad.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
But yeah, you know, this is a movie we all
of us have seen about eight thousand times and probably
could a huminer sleeps, so it shouldn't be a surprise
to the rest of us.
Speaker 4 (40:04):
Very true.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
So I guess we'll see what Heather makes of it
and what we make of it on our nth rewatch
and review of it. So, folks, thanks as alwaysist show
and supporting us. We will see you next time with
the Nightmare before Christmas seeing out spooky season. Until then,
thank you so much for a privilege of your time.
Stay super chow Mopeople
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