Revisiting: I Am Legend

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Revisiting: I Am Legend

It was no coincidence that the 2007 film starring Will Smith and Alice Braga, dealt with the subject of a deadly virus. It was about an engineered virus intended to cure cancer, that eventually decimated the world's population in 2009. It seems as if the things that happen before our eyes are previously being telegraphed before they occur. This may be done for shock effect, or provided as a harbinger??? Now we find ourselves facing Labor Day, the last hurrah for the summer, and the return of children to school; We are also awaiting an (purported) advancing H1N1 Pandemic.

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Do we see any parallels here?

The film, I Am Legend begins around the 5th of September, 2012; Robert Neville (W. Smith) is a sole-survivor in New York City, whose only companion is his dog Samantha. They systematically look for survivors, food, and hunt deer in Mid-Town Manhattan; He drives at high velocity down 7th Avenue, and Park Avenue, since there are no other humans alive to impede high speed. Scenes from the past (just before the Epidemic killed virtually killed everyone else) are intermittently flashed several times; when he relives the last moments with his family before they perished; This was supposedly a worldwide epidemic, yet, the film's focus is New York City (which was quarantined as the Pandemic progressed).

We are eventually introduced to the Darkseekers, a mutant breed of humans that are infected with the deadly virus, but, survive as nocturnal cannibals. Robert Neville's dog Samantha dies after an vicious encounter with darkseeker dogs. Well, not to bore you with the details, after a revenge attack on the mutants, Robert Neville crashes his SUV, and is rescued by Ann (Alice Braga), who with her son has travelled from Mary-land; They are on their way to a survivor colony in the mountains of Vermont.

At the end of the film, the Darkseekers enter Robert Neville's home in Washington Square, where Ann and her son Ethan have taken refuge. They eventually withdraw to the safety of the basement where R. Neville has a lab. Dr. Neville draws some of his blood (He is immune and has been working with this virus since before it became a Pandemic) and gives it to Ann and asks her to hide until he destroys the attacking darkseekers. Neville (he also dies) blows himself up, along with the mutants with a grenade, while Ann and Ethan hide in a Coal chute.

The final scene is a doosey:

Ann and her son Ethan, are driving on a country road (New England?) surrounded by fall colored trees; They arrive at a large gate in the road, they stop and start to walk towards the 10 foot tall gate that stretches from one end of the road to the other. Suddenly, the gate opens and there are armed men waiting and welcoming Ann and Ethan; Ann, then shakes a man's hand, and then hands him the vial of Neville's blood (the antibody). Here's the scenario as she walks into this compound: There is a White painted Church with a large steeple at the far end of the road, on the right there is an octagonal road sign indicating there is a stop sign ahead, and on the left side an American flag draping towards the road. Then, Ann recites this cryptic verse:

In 2009, a deadly virus burned through our civilization...
...pushing humankind to the edge of extinction.
Dr. Robert Neville dedicated his life...
...to the discovery of a cure...
...and the restoration of humanity.
on September 9th 2012...
...at approximately 8:49PM...
...he discovered the cure.
And, at 8:52 he gave his life to defend it.
We are his legacy.
This is his legend.
Light up the Darkness.

The End

Other Observations:

1.Twice during the film Robert Neville mentioned:

"This is Ground Zero"; "This is my site".

"I'm not gonna let this happen, I can fix this".

2.During the scenes when Ann and Robert Neville are in the Brownstone home in NYC;

Dr. Neville comes down the stairs and enters the living room where Ethan is sitting watching the animated film 'Shrek'.

Shrek dialogue:

Man: You there! Ogre.
By the order of Lord Farquaad...
...I am authorized to place you both under arrest...
...and transport you to a designated resettlement facility.

Shrek: Oh, Really? You and what army?

3.Twice during the film Dr. Neville tells Ann, "There is no God".

As I've stated before we are living in the strangest of times. However, we must sometimes listen to the nonsense that is produced for mass consumption, and notice the subliminal messages that accompany the so-called entertainment; Which is something that anyone with a discerning ear can decipher and interpret. Brethren, there are no coincidences in matters like these, especially when they mimic the current events. Stay tuned! Vigilance is the word.


Arsenio.