Posted by Josh Lipovetsky in Welcome back to FilmInsight!
In I Am Legend, Will Smith plays the role of Robert Neville; the last man on earth after a terrible virus wipes out the human population. Will Smith does an excellent job portraying the loneliness and good intentions of Neville, and no one could have been better for the role.
Robert Neville is living a lonely life. Unlike an episode of “The Twilight Zone”, where the character goes crazy from being lonely. Neville keeps his sanity among the loneliness, able to find company in his dog Sam and an unusual yet interesting group of mannequins. In his research laboratory, he keeps all of the results of his failed attempts to find a cure. This shows his persistence, and ability to keep working when the chips are down. As expected, he loses most of his social abilities from being lonely for so long.
Despite being the last man on earth, Neville kept his hope and he kept his purpose: Bring back the human race. Where most people would see a mighty challenge with insurmountable odds, Robert Neville saw hope. He got his inspiration from listening to music (Bob Marley, in particular). This is given evidence throughout the way he talks about music, and all of the high-end audio equipment in his house. Neville’s emotional capacity was “superhuman”; because he was forced to go through countless tragedies. When the 2 other human characters enter the film, Neville is in shock and expresses it through anger (argument about God, throwing his food against a ledge).
Indeed, Robert Neville is an extremely strong character, with an emotional capacity that is beyond human comprehension. At the end of the movie, he keeps all of his focus on his mission (saving the humans), even if it meant taking his own life (theatrical ending). A truly inspiring movie character, and a great example for dealing with our life problems is Robert Neville. No problem is too large to overcome; never underestimate your own power.
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