The Best Director-Chapter 511 - Another Shock!

Chapter 511: Chapter 511 Another Shock!

“Sam, NO, NO! Sam! NO! Sam!”

4015 North American cinemas were filled with an eerily tense atmosphere, every audience member’s heart suddenly clenched as they saw Neville, drenched in cold sweat, holding a gun while slowly walking into the storage facility, softly calling out, “Sam? Sam? HELLO? Sam? COME-ON, Sam?”

“Oh my god!” Regardless of gender, numerous audience members began to breathe rapidly, with Evelyn anxiously shouting in her heart, “Don’t let Sam die!” The silence around her was pervasive as they watched Neville advance step by step in search of Sam within the dark storage facility. Alice swallowed hard, sensing that a zombie might suddenly burst out, and silently chanted, “Sam, COME-ON!” Rachel clenched her fists, thinking, “Don’t let anything happen to Sam!” Natalie widened her eyes, “That bastard is capable of anything!!”

But now it wasn’t only Sam’s safety that tugged at their hearts, the darkness brought the unknown and fear, and the zombies lurking in the shadows oppressed the audience greatly. The superb use of camera angles, photography, lighting, and sound effects heightened the atmosphere to the extreme, including first-person perspective shots and handheld camera work that increased the sense of immersion and realism. When it came to thrilling and frightening the audience, the incredible Yang was never joking around.

“Sam, Sam…” Neville’s face was increasingly sweaty, like someone just hauled out of the water. Suddenly, a deer’s pitiful scream startled the audience, causing goosebumps to erupt on their skin. Neville slowly ascended the blood-stained stairs, “tap tap tap”… At the stairway’s turn, he discovered the deer’s corpse and took a few more steps on the floor, then suddenly, a group of zombies came into his view!

“Uuuh…” The audience let out a collective low gasp. The zombies were standing around, possibly asleep. Neville quickly moved his flashlight away and covered it, retreating slowly back, “crunch,” he stepped on a wooden block, making the audience’s heart tighten again, but the zombies didn’t notice. Fortunately, it was all clear! Neville safely retreated and turned to continue the search, “Sam, Sam.” Thankfully, he found Sam hiding under a table with no visible injuries!

...

Yes, the amazing Yang was a ruthless person but seemed not this time. The audience all let out a sigh of relief. On the big screen, Neville urged, “Sam, let’s go, we need to leave, hurry up!” Sam refused to move, clearly frightened, and took a step back, Neville pressed, “Hurry up, what are you doing?” He glanced around and realized something, “Wow—” a ferocious zombie roared as it pounced!!

“Ahhh—”, “Tap Tap Tap!” Neville cried out as he fired his rifle, the flames along with the sound of falling bullet casings shot at the zombie, “Sam, run!!” Man and dog wildly dashed towards the window exit, the shaky camera view causing viewers’ hearts to quiver as well. The light was just ahead!

“Run faster, run faster!” Many in the audience were shouting inwardly, and the faster Sam jumped out the window, finally, Neville broke through the glass window and tumbled out, followed by a few zombies. Hit by the sunlight, they began smoking all over, and their eerily painful shrieks made everyone a bit uneasy.

“Phew!” Seeing Neville and Sam unharmed, many of the girls patted their chests, relieved. However, their relief did not last long, as the loyal and lovable Sam was about to die. When Neville set a trap to capture a female zombie for research a few days later, he ended up being hung by a similar trap the zombies set for him in the street. Audience members who had not read the original novel “I Am Legend” and the previous two film adaptations were all shocked, thinking, could zombies be intelligent too?

Indeed, they were not zombies but mutated human Darkseekers. Before the audience could ponder further, in the movie’s Manhattan streets, the brave Sam engaged in a fight to the death with several mutated pit bulls, “Woof woof—”, “Woof woof woof—”, “NO!!” Neville shouted, Eve screamed out loud, every viewer’s eyes widened at the horror—damn it, Sam was bitten!

“Oh! Damn it!” Natalie felt so distressed she scratched her head, knowing that Sam was surely going to die, and Neville probably as well… Watching Neville narrowly kill several pit bulls while Sam lay dying on the street, Rachel’s heart couldn’t help but be heavy, she braced herself for the tears to come.

Although everyone who walked into the screening room was prepared and knew that this was not a comedy, the sight of the serum failing, Neville being forced to smother Sam to death, watching him sing softly as if to a child, his head drenched in sweat and his face in tears, him slumping against the counter with lifeless eyes… the audience’s hearts were twisted into knots, overcome with melancholy as the piano music started, their eyes assaulted by a wave of warmth, with the girls blinking back tears and the boys expressionless.

Jan Kaczmarek once again proved himself to be a top-tier film score maestro; Will Smith fully unleashed the charisma of an Oscar-winning actor, his wholehearted and stirring performance winning hearts. “Why does he always have such fantastic performances?” Rick Sreed from the New York Observer marveled endlessly.

“Ah.” Sam is dead! Seeing Neville bury him while holding back his grief, countless viewers couldn’t help but sigh deeply. The last companion is gone! Apart from the piano, the entire screening room fell into dead silence, a crushing wave of loneliness, pressure, and sorrow enveloped everything, leaving the world in utter despair with not a trace of sunlight or warmth.

Originally, the critical cinema community and audience had several main critiques against Warner Brothers’ version of “I Am Legend,” which also aligned with Wang Yang’s dissatisfaction with Akiva Goldsman’s script:

Firstly, the terrible CGI effects, an inevitable result of Warner Brothers’ strict control over the $150 million budget, with too much spent on the “lockdown shooting”; secondly, the dull and boring second half, which took a nosedive following Sam’s death, marked by the appearance of a woman and child that shattered the atmosphere and emotion painstakingly built in the first half, along with a host of contradictions in the story details, leading countless viewers to label the second half as “crap,” “idiotic,” “clumsy action popcorn”;

Thirdly, the uninteresting ending, where Neville dies alongside the Darkseekers, with humanity receiving new hope—an all-too-Hollywood-style tragic commercial ending, which many viewers complained about, saying, “The alternative ending would have been better,” “It’s meaningless,” “It wasted the first half”; and fourthly, the abandonment of the original theme and the misinterpretation of “I Am Legend,” the trite glory of humanity—this was the grumbling of moviegoers and book enthusiasts alike.

Of course, now, audiences around the world wouldn’t be able to see those issues, with flawless CGI effects, a flawless production team, and then…

“Goodbye, goodbye—” The last moments of the massive evacuation of New York City citizens were finally revealed on the big screen, the massive crowd retreating, the military on standby, the brutal checkpoints… Watching his wife and daughter board the helicopter, Neville holding little Sam in his arms, silently shedding tears, smiling and waving goodbye, even blowing a few kisses—then, the “boom” sound of explosions erupted as missiles launched by the military blew up both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges.

As the two bridges fell into the sea, creating tumultuous waves that nearly drowned out the screams and cries of the people; the destruction of the bridges led to havoc, and on the other side of the coast despondent, reluctant people, including a family that hadn’t passed the check, scrambled desperately to board a green Dolphin helicopter, leading to its loss of control and “whoosh” towards Neville’s wife and daughter in the red Dolphin helicopter…

“NO!! NO—” Colliding helicopters about to explode; the footage cut abruptly, Neville, driven mad, rushed forward, only to be held back firmly by two soldiers, and he awoke suddenly, his face covered in tears.

“…” The dimly lit atmosphere in the screening room became even more oppressive, the chilling air almost freezing, as this hot summer seemed more and more like frigid winter. The spectators were immersed in sadness and solitude, many girls pulled out handkerchiefs and tissues to wipe their eyes, and although it was already known that his family was no more, the scene was still so desolate.

The film continued, the death of Sam had changed Neville; his life was changing, no longer warm and charming, but full of oppression and sorrow; his mindset was also changing, perhaps with hatred, perhaps distortion, whether right or wrong, or something else. Although he continued his serum research and the search for other survivors, he no longer tolerated the Darkseekers but actively sought ways to set traps, to hunt, to capture, and to eliminate them; he did not want anyone else to die at the hands of these monsters.

Watching Neville sweep through the Darkseekers’ stronghold, the audience was filled with chills, tension, and discomfort. Evelyn frowned with reluctance, for those mutants were still human, humans with families, lovers, friends, who, once the serum was successful, could revert to normal; and the serum was nearing success! On the other hand, even without the culture and society of normal humans, the mutants showed intelligence and emotions; they were not mere zombies.

These were also recorded by Neville in the video logs on his computer, and as the film neared its conclusion, following a number of battles, Neville noticed an increase in the intelligence of the mutant leader, which puzzled him greatly. What kinds of mutations had the lethal virus caused in humanity?

Before he could understand more, a dramatic shift occurred in the story that day. Before nightfall, at dusk, the mutant leader came out to roam an hour earlier than usual, causing the audience to gasp. It seemed they were no longer as afraid of sunlight! Unaware he was being tracked, Neville was found by the mutant leader at his residence next to Washington Square Park! With the arrival of nightfall, a fierce battle ensued.

“Oh!!” The hearts of the audience were in their throats as Neville turned on the floodlights in the square, detonated the landmines he had set, but still couldn’t completely stop the frenzied mutants. After a hair-raising fight with a mutant inside the house, Neville retreated to his underground laboratory and then he noticed…

In the lab, there were numerous rats and mutants used for various experiments; to his joy, he noticed the female mutant lying on the bed at the back had a stabilized heartbeat— the serum was working! Just then, “Ohwooowoo—!” “Aaah!!” A large group of mutants also arrived; Neville hurriedly closed the glass door.

“Stop! Stop! Listen to me, listen! I can save you, you’re all sick, but I can help you!!” Neville, drenched in sweat and blood, yelled through the glass door to the mutants, sweeping up a handgun and an M67 grenade from the table: “I can fix everything!! I can save everyone!! I can save everyone, the serum is effective, it works—”

The mutants didn’t pay him any heed and continued to pound on the glass door frantically. Just then, the mutant leader roared thunderously as he arrived, brutally pushing aside other mutants in his way, staring down Neville, and slamming into the glass door repeatedly, causing it to crack immediately.

“This guy is really strong…” Natalie said, her eyes wide open as she picked up a piece of popcorn from the bottom of the bucket and slowly popped it into her mouth; Rachel was also dumbstruck, it must hurt a lot… The faces of the surrounding audience members were all tense.

“I can save you, let me save you!!” Neville continued to shout on the big screen, hoping they could understand, hoping they would stop! But no, the mutant leader kept ramming against the door, and the cracks in the glass formed a pattern of a butterfly, symbolizing femininity, representing the female mutant. Neville stared at them dumbly, when suddenly the entire world lost its sound.

“Daddy, it’s a butterfly!” a tender voice of little Willow rang out; in a flashback scene, Neville and his daughter were watching a TV program at home, but the TV screen showed two mantises fighting. She said, “It’s a mantis!” then turned to look at her dad, asking in confusion, “Why are they attacking each other?” Neville, with a strange expression, smiled and said, “Oh, it’s a kind of competition.” But Willow didn’t understand, “Can’t they be friends? They’re both mantises!” Neville smiled at his daughter and replied, “Yeah! Why not?”

With a loud crash! The scene returned to the laboratory, the glass shattered on the floor, the mutant leader, and the mutants didn’t immediately attack; Neville dazedly said, “I can help you!” He gestured towards the female mutant with the grenade in his hand, his face full of earnestness: “The serum is working! I can save you! Let me save you…”

“NO—”

A deep roar startled the audience, they then widened their eyes only to see the ferocious mutant leader had suddenly begun to speak! He could talk!!

Facing this tremendous upheaval, Neville was also stunned. The leader of the mutants cocked his head and roared slowly and deliberately, “We, do, not, need, your, help! We, do, not, need, help! No, need, to, save! We, are, not, sick!!” Before his words had ended, his fellow mutants howled wildly, seemingly in agreement with their leader!

“You are sick…” Neville’s eyes showed disbelief, his voice no longer as loud, “I can save you, I can turn you back into humans…”

The mutant leader opened his mouth wide, letting out a piercing scream, and then shouted, “We are humans!!” With those clear words, the mutants roared wildly once again, “Ah ah!!” “Ooh woo——”

Who is human? The audience’s hearts thumped rapidly, hot, cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads and backs, “The Last Man on Earth” Neville—was he human, or a monster? Were the now city-dominating mutants monsters, or human? Could “humans” and “mutants” not coexist peacefully? Why? Film critics were beside themselves with excitement, breathing rapidly, these thoughts, these shocks were what they craved, this was the kind of science fiction film that made Hollywood blush with shame!

On the big screen, Neville glanced at the M67 grenade in his hand, the muscles and veins on the back of his hand taut. The audience too faced this psychological choice: whether to perish together, to try to kill them all and escape, or…

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Perhaps Neville had an epiphany. He seemed to understand something, a sweating face revealing a smile, his hand, clutching the pistol and grenade, relaxed and dropped. Looking at the mutants, he smiled and said, “We are all humans… but, I am legend.”

“Ooh woo!!” The mutants rushed forward frenziedly, and Neville, knocked back, closed his eyes. Accompanied by a vicious scream, the big screen went black, silently entering the end credit roll: “Director: Wang Yang; Screenwriters: Mark Protosevich, Wang Yang & Akiva Goldsman; Base script: John William Corrington & Joyce Hooper Corrington; Base novel: Richard Matheson; Producers: Wang Yang, Akiva Goldsman…”

Shocking, shocking! An abrupt and deafening conclusion! The entire theater remained silent. Was Neville dead? Just like that? It was only when the gentle end-credit music began to play that the audience erupted with “Wow,” “Whoa,” and “Oh my God!” unable to calm their emotions for a long time. This movie was too…

Incredible! Critics like Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, Kyle Smith, Peter Howell, Stephanie Zacharek, and others unanimously gave thumbs up, acknowledging its incredible magic—a unique masterpiece! The best film of the summer!

“FUCK…” Natalie cursed softly, “He got me again.” She raised her hand to wipe her moist eyes, sniffing her acidulous nose. As people grow up, they become more sensual and more emotional. “Whew…” Rachel let out a long sigh, shaking her head with a bitter smile. He had won, he had won.

“Whoo, whoo!” At that moment, the theater erupted into thunderous applause as the audience began spontaneously clapping and cheering. Clair clapped vigorously, sending her praise to that marvelous director and the entire crew of “I Am Legend.” “Woo hoo hoo! So sad! Not cool, not cool… too sad——!!” Evelyn sobbed uncontrollably, with streaks of tears, and Kelly looked helplessly at her friend, nearly crying herself. It really was very sad.

“This is ‘I Am Legend.'” (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it and support it with your monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)