Let’s face it. Most books are better than the movies that eventually get made based on those books. It’s been true for a long time. There are a few notable exceptions when the movie achieves an equal status as the book, and a still rarer group of movies that surpass their source material.
Will Smith’s new adaptation of the classic Richard Matheson tale “I Am Legend” is a very good movie based solely on its own merits. Smith does a very good job portraying the loneliness and pain that comes with being the only person alive.
However, this is a very different story than that told by Matheson. The original novella tells the tale of an everyman trying to stay sane in a lonely world where vampires come to his house every night. His wife and child were not killed in a tragic helicopter crash but were victims to the plague. And most importantly, Matheson’s character hunts the vampires during the day and kills as many as he can. This plays a pivotal role in the ending of the book and in its very title.
I understand how and why books need to be changed to fit on the movie screen. The different mediums lend themselves to very different types of storytelling. However, an adaptation should try very hard to stick to the point of the book. Change everything else, but make sure to keep the point.