I Am Legend (2007)

A German shepherd gives the best performance in I Am Legend, and a pile of unfinished CGI gives the worst. Will Smith carries the empty-city half like a one-man play, hunting deer through Times Square, browsing a video store he filled with mannequins, and making small talk with one of them with more patience than most first dates. That stretch is legit haunting. Then night falls and the Darkseekers show up looking like they were rendered on somebody’s lunch break, and every scare goes soft. It runs 101 minutes and still feels like it ran out of road before the ending. It made $585.5 million worldwide on a reported $150 million budget, so the lonely-guy-and-his-dog pitch clearly worked. I’m giving it a 6.4 because the quiet parts are a 9 and the monster parts are a 4, and the movie keeps picking the monsters. $39.03 says you say good morning to a mannequin at the mall just to see how it feels.

What works: Will Smith alone in an empty New York, the deer hunt in Times Square, and a dog who gives the most honest performance in the film.

What doesn’t: The CGI Darkseekers look rubbery and fake, and the final act rushes through a story the first half built slowly and carefully.

Who it’s for: Dog people, empty-city fans, and anyone who liked the lonely island part of Cast Away more than the rescue.