I Am Legend (2007)

While essentially the same story has been made before, once with Vincent Price, and once with Charlton Heston, it is Will Smith who gets the accolades of comparison with Tom Hanks and Spencer Tracy, for his ability to effectively hold the screen alone for much of the picture (though I think the dog stole the show). You know the plot with this one already, man messed with nature and released a virus that killed off most of us, and left most of the survivors viscous albino’s. Smith survives of course, he’s a cool Bob Marley loving virologist who has memorized all of the dialogue from the first Shrek, and who either created a cure of limited transportability or is conveniently naturally immune. His three years unkept New York is beautifully rendered, grass grows through every crack in the pavement, dear and escaped zoo lions run free, wilted Christmas decorations hang from empty buildings, some of which are covered in plastic shields, evidence of ultimately unsuccessful efforts to contain the contingent that cancer researcher Emma Thompson accidently unleashed on us. Smith is such a likable everyman that the film survives on at least first viewing, and is probably the best cinematic rendering of post-apocalyptic loneliness. A little more contemplative then your average summer block buster, its sentimental streak make it a perfect mass audience fit for the holidays.