I am Legend

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

I went to the movies with my brother Friday night, something I haven't done in years.

We saw 'I am Legend' with Will Smith.

I really like scary movies and although the previews don't really come out and say it - this movie is about vampire-like people - so its a 'scary movie'.

I was intrigued by the movie within the first hour. There's a human engineered virus (which was supposed to 'cure cancer' and is both airborne and blood transmitted) that has wiped out 90% of the population, turned 9.9% into vampire-like people and .1% are 'immune'. Dogs are immune to the airborne transmission. Robert Neville, Will Smiths character, is the only surviving human in New York City (ground zero, where the virus was developed) and as far as he can tell, the entire world. He has flashbacks to the city's evacuation/destruction often, which tells you a little about the government's response to the virus.

When I worked at RI Hospital I was a member of the RI emergency management response committee - I was the secretary and took notes at all the meetings, it was fascinating. I met folks from RI EMS, heads of all the hospitals etc. and learned, more importantly, that we're not prepared for a '9/11' in this area. We are, however, better prepared than many areas of the country. You're never more than 7 minutes from a hospital here - which is the smallest interval IN THE COUNTRY. That, I thought, was pretty cool. My 'boss' was the head of the RIH emergency preparedness department (all 2 of us) and was also a member of the RI legislature and wrote a bill to refine legislation after the Station Night Club Fire that killed 100 people in W. Warwick, RI in 2003. Ironically, he was called to NYC to meet with officials there to help them be better prepared for another '9/11'. They felt they were no more prepared than the day after the original incident happened.

So I was really excited to see Hollywood's interpretation of how government would handle a mass virus spread like the one depicted in this movie.

Alas, I would have to wait... forever. After the first hour this movie tanked excitement wise and got really boring and 'hollywood-ish'. The ending was anti-climactic and overall the movie was really depressing.

The best character, in the movie, was the dog Samantha. The relationship between the main character and his dog was creepy/moving at the same time.

The funniest part of the movie was the dialog from when Will Smith found 'Hank' not where he thought he should be... until about 2 minutes after that discovery, of course.

I'm glad I saw it - I spent time with my brother, which I don't get to do much of now - and was entertained for an evening. If you have $10.50 to waste on a ticket - do it, its a good watch. If you have NETFLIX - put it on the top of your list when its released. Otherwise, wait for HBO.

I promise to blog more about my regular stuff soon - life is busy during the holidays!