You see, it has monsters in it.
And I know, I know, it's a monster/zombie type apocalypse, it probably needs some monster/zombie types in there somewhere, and this is true, it's important to establish why he is afraid of what squats so menacingly in the dark. The issue here is that that presence is horribly bungled.
The first time we see them is really effective. A blink and you'll miss it shot of bizarre humanoid figures in the gloom. It's solid horror and powerfully gets across the both peril and the characters palpable fear. Every instance from that point is a slow slide from engrossing melancholy science fiction into a mediocre monster movie.
They quickly stop being a lurking presence as they're constantly shown full on in all their dated CGI glory. They're weird, inhuman things, gangly, detached and alien, which diminishes one of the more poignant elements, that these are the people the protagonist failed to save, as they're no longer really recognisable as human beings. Often the less a monster is used the more powerful it's effect upon the viewer and by the end of the picture these freaky jawed bald chaps are used all the damn time.
Which is a shame, because as I say it had been building a thoughtful genre story. The last man after the fall has been territory widely traveled, and vast swathes of it influenced by the novel upon which this film was based, so you would hope it had gotten that bit down if nothing else, and I felt it had. The first half of the film is fascinating and eerie documentation of his existence in the wreck of New York, his connection to the events that cause it and his lonely decent into lunacy. Will Smith, proving he can hold a screen on his own, plays a character who isn't explored in all that much detail, but gets across large waves of despair and hopelessness as he seeks human contact with inanimate objects and a dog he thinks is people.
And then, in a final touch before it descends, it's suggested that the creatures are more than simple beasts, an element well worth exploring, but one put aside in favour of some good old fashion computer graphics. He's given a women and child to protect because how else would we know it's horror and he finds a last minute cure, mainly to the hopelessness that has thus far driven the movie and manages to leave a bad taste in the mouth on the way out.
But I'd be lying if I said there wasn't any value to it. Indeed, as monster movie schlock goes you could do far worse, it's just that I find the shift from potent sci fi to cheap graveyard smash to be deeply dissatisfying. Potential was squandered in the making of this movie, which always riles me something rotten.
