Cinepals - I AM LEGEND (2007) Movie Reaction & Review! | First Time Watch | Will Smith | Alice Braga

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

Kristen and Micheal watch the intense and emotional 2007 Will Smith starrer, I Am Legend for the very first time! In a post-apocalyptic New York City, a lone scientist immune to a man-made virus struggles to find a cure while fending off mutated survivors. I Am Legend was directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Red Sparrow). The main cast includes Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness, Men in Black, King Richard) as Dr. Robert Neville, Alice Braga (City of God, The New Mutants, Queen of the South) as Anna, Charlie Tahan (Ozark, Wayward Pines, Frankenweenie) as Ethan, and Dash Mihok (Silver Linings Playbook, Ray Donovan, Romeo + Juliet) as Alpha Male. Join us on YouTube at https://www.YouTube.com/@Cinepals for the cutdown reaction or becoming a Patron at www.cinejump.com and get access to the uncut reaction for this movie as well as many other movies and shows! SOCIAL MEDIA ~CINEPALS~  YouTube: @CinePals Insta: https://instagram.com/TheCinePals Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCinePals ~KRISTEN STEPHENSONPINO~ Insta: @Kris10Kesp ~MICHAEL BOOSE~ Insta: @BooseIsLoose

Sina. Pals! What's so, guys? This is Chris Zemino, joined by Michael Booth. Hello, hello. And we are watching. I am legend. Dr. Robert Naval dedicated his life to the discovery of a cure and the restoration of humanity.

And she brought that cure. At approximately 8.49 p.m. He discovered that cure. At 8.52, he gave his life to defend it. we are his legacy wow this is his legend

whoa of the darkness wow wow oh my god what a great ending to that like that's just I wasn't expecting that

but like how heroic I love that his character never changed he's always been a hero yeah You know, and all right.

He always put the people and the world, like, first before everything else. He was not, he was so selfless. Uh-huh. But could you imagine just putting your family on that helicopter thinking you're doing the best thing for them for them to be safe? And then that's what gets them killed. Yeah. And it's, uh.

That makes total sense why when she's like, we need to leave, we got to go find the colony. He's like, no. Yeah, there's nobody. I stayed here without. leaving with my wife and daughter because I was going to fix this. This is ground zero for me. This is where I was going to fix this.

And I'm going to stay here until I fix it. I'm following my word to my family. Exactly. Like I'm not losing them for nothing. The last promise I made was that I will get them out of here. And I'm damn well going to do it. The part where he went from Sam to Samantha. Yeah.

And he said her full name, not just like the nickname for Sam. I'm like, that's so sad. Yeah. He finally gets like human interaction too. I know. I know. I'm just like,

there are actual people out there. You know, the crazy reveal that, oh my God, someone actually has been listening. And of course, it's like when he's lost Sam and he's given up and he's, he's just, he's done trying to find a cure. Everything comes together. Yep. And inevitably it all falls apart at the same time.

You know? It happens like that a lot, though. His legacy and legend, he doesn't get to live to see it. But the fact that he dedicated himself to making that happen. So tragic. This was a really like good, suspenseful film. Yes. And I think Will Smith is a really, I like Will Smith, okay?

I really do. I do like his work. I love his comedy. I love when he's in action films. I love when he's in heart. breaking films like he has like a lot of different places i think to pull from in order to achieve those emotions and get go to those dark places yeah you know especially with like his background and like family situation and all that stuff like he always delivers no matter what i feel like

oh yeah yeah yeah the dog they got for this film was amazing oh my god that dog had my whole heart oh my gosh I want a dog like Sam. I want a good girl. Everyone deserves a dog like Sam. That's my bestie and goes on adventures and, you know, hunts vampire mutants with me. Sam gave her life to protect him. And I'm like, baby. And I'm like, oh, I hate that.

The dog's not immune. But it was interesting to see, like, how some people were immune to it as others aren't, which normally that kind of like happens, right, with virus. and stuff in general like there's some people that just for some reason doesn't affect them and then affects others

more than most I thought it was interesting I felt like these creatures They had some humanity in them They did They had some humanity in them Because I think the moment He tried to cross that barrier

It was almost like he was trying to get his daughter back or something You know what I mean? Right his loved one right They were his loved one back Because otherwise Why else would he he tried to like force the limits knowing it's going to do that well yeah he even said have like

he seemed to like be able to think in the process which has made him i think why he was the leader and clearly he could he could lead them because like clearly he was calling them the other ones up like even at that end bit where he's smashing through the plexiglass the rest of the infected had stepped back yeah and were like letting him try and break through he almost was willing to go out and sacrifice himself to try and get into the sun to save his loved one when he trapped it. And I think it's interesting that it was misconstrued as a lack of humanity.

Yes. When it was actually probably the most human moment he had seen in a very long while. That's what I thought too. I think, man, the part that really killed me. When Will Smith said, let me cure you. I can help you. The desperation.

Let me save you. Like almost in that moment of desperation, he's like it was like a hope or something or a thought of maybe you'll understand yeah yeah maybe you can see maybe i can get through to you like maybe there is some humanity left in you maybe there's hope there's something like he had that all that hope of like let me just try yeah that part sucks because he has the cure now he figured it out yeah he figured it out you just got like super cool him i guess to get them to revert back yeah that was pretty crazy oh the the big moment that was like incredible acting and performing on the part of will smith um putting sam down

like talk about a visceral way to have to take out your best and only friend and like obviously he's doing it because it's an act of mercy yes you know he he doesn't realize he's got a cure yet but damn that sucks just just the long continuous shot on just will smith as you the sound effects fill in everything, but his acting does a phenomenal job of making that whole off-screen situation real, right? Like, you don't have to see it to know exactly what's happening and to have your heartbroken by it. Yes.

That was so well shot. It was so well acted and just heartbreaking. Come on, guys. Can we have a movie where the dog makes it? Yeah, like, come on. Can we have a movie where the dog makes it, please? Why do we keep attacking our, our cute? innocent animals.

The puppies. Another part was when we were in line, we had that woman who was infected. And the desperation of her just, take my child, take my child, you know. To be that desperate, to give away your own child in hopes that your child survives is on a whole other level of selflessness. And anytime you see that in any situation, whether that's a war film. or like true story whatever the case may be that always cuts deep yes always and I hate the part that I hated the most which kind of like made my be sick to my stomach the only reason they rescanned his wife was because of his rank other than that they would never do that and that

just pisses me off because I'm like and so how many how many people were quarantined on the island that could have gotten off because they were yes because they thought they were infected because their machinery was wrong. I think you should get like at least two trials you know. Like beep once, beep twice.

But then what's what's the false one? Is it a false negative or is it a false positive, you know? True. Like if the machinery is faulty, you don't know which way it's faulty. So. Oh, that's a tough one. In a fast triage situation like that,

like you never know, unfortunately. But yeah. That sucks. Yeah, but you could have just been walking up and it just happened, you know. Watching things like. like that terrifies me.

Because that's exactly how it would go, unfortunately. It would, you know, the moment, something. I'm a man for himself. We've seen it recently with things that weren't nearly as deadly. I'm not going to go deep into it because like. We're going to sugar cut it, but we're not going to go deep. But like, objectively, society suffers the moment there's like a mass emergency and people go to their kind of basic instincts of survival and it doesn't always work out

for the greater good, which is what. Will Smith's character was saying is like, there is no colony. There can be no colony because everything fell apart so fast. Yeah. We were not prepared. There is no way that any sort of established society came about. But I think a testament to the human spirit, I think eventually something would work out. Eventually, people would find a way to band together, to create a safe zone, to survive together.

Because eventually, we're good at figuring out how to work together. Once we get over the initial, like, ah! kind of thing. Yes. You know? It was super eerie and creepy and honestly. This film's very scary, but it's also very heartfelt and devastating. And there's so many things about it.

But it's also kind of like it did also have like it's sweet moments. Yeah. I loved, I loved when Will Smith walked in and he, you know, he's trying to make the best out of things with the mannequins. And I love that he stayed respectful. I love that he didn't just become like, yeah, whatever. and trashed the place. I loved when he put the film back.

Oh, yeah, putting the movie back on the shelf. I love when he put it back and he only took one. He didn't overdo it. I thought that that was, there was something that was so wholesome about it. Made me adore the film for them to keep him civilized. And to keep him true to his nature and not change just because everything else is changed

and everything else's shit. I like that he still, there was some type of sanity, there was some type of respect, and there was some type of order for him. But also, I did like that he, you could see, like, he tried really hard to maintain, like, a semblance of humanity, a semblance of society, a semblance of, like, what's been lost. Because otherwise, you just, if you're going to be sad and angry the whole time, what's the point of going on? And I think that's what we kind of see him spiral into is, like, like he not only has another like one of a hundred like a thousand failed drug tests that

he doesn't realize is working but he also loses Sam which is like the last thing he's holding on to that's like keeping his psyche here so he loses Sam and we see him go over the edge we see him like why should I maintain these things I mean why should I keep going well Sam was his only that was his only family yeah it was his only companion and it's like I think if I was in that position as well of this only thing that loved and adored me you know like

you see them in the tub cuddling you see them holding each other that was the only form of connection he had left if I lost that

honestly I might just be like yeah let's go crazy too with the with the thought of you know what I'm never going to hear this I'm the only person alive yeah

it's been years and years I come here every day nobody shows up and the one time one time the one time I don't show up somebody comes of course of course

but you know it's it's just the thing that pulls him back from the edge you know he's like he went out there

to end himself to go out in a blaze of glory and thank goodness they still found him but like that that residual anger like about the bacon

and everything like that like that's all from he gave up hope and then suddenly hopes dangled in front of him again and he's trying not to let himself hope

that's why he's so mad about the colony that's why he's so mad about her belief in God and God saved us which makes sense Because he's like, I don't, I can't keep hoping.

No, but I also like that he said, God did not create this. Man, kind did. I do like that he acknowledged that too. I also liked when he brought up Bob Marley, like why he named his daughter and brought up the whole cure for, you know, racism, hate, love, and whatever. And how music can bring people together. I loved when he said, yeah, he was, you know, he was attacked and all this stuff. And he was like, but he showed up the next day and played the music because he's like, people doesn't sleep why should i like i think a lot of people i mean like hearing that makes me go

you know what you're right yeah you're right like it makes me feel inspired do everything you can to put light in the world yeah it's like if they don't if the dark doesn't sleep why should we right and that's why that's why he had to stay that's why he had to stay in new york that's why he had to continue to find the cure and then finally he does and he's able to pass that like a on and then only then is he allowed to shuffle off this mortal coil so to speak yeah you know will smith it says that he grew so um attached to the canaan store in this film

which is oh the dog who played sam yes he that he wanted to adopt her when he was filming and when he finished but the dog's trainer could not be pursued to give her up i mean that was a really good dog's And clearly that dog is, like, doing well-performing, so, like, why would you give up a money-making dog even if a big Hollywood star asks you? But even that, like, I could never give up my dog to anybody, you know what I mean? I would sit there and be like, well, if my, if it has puppies, I would love to give you a puppy. Right. But this one's mine.

I don't care how old it is. I don't care if it's on death row. Yeah, you're not getting it. It's staying with me until the end of time. Like, this is my baby. But I do think that's kind of cute that he's. loved the dog so much that he was like, can I adopt your dog? Can I please?

Can I please? And the owner's like, no. Could you imagine Will Smith coming and try and buy your dog? Yeah, right? And you're like, yo, you're like, hey, my dog's so cool. Will Smith tried to adopt her. Yeah. And I had to sit there and say, no.

That dog's going to go down in history. Right? This is the one Will Smith wanted. This is the dog. This is the dog. This is the dog you want because Will Smith wanted to take it home. The puppies of the dog, Will Smith, wanted to adopt like that's kind of that's a pretty cool story i think that'd be cool i mean obviously

you don't want to be approaching you trying to buy your dog from you but i wonder how much he offered what i love about like sam versus the mannequins though is it's kind of interesting where he has full conversations with sam right he's like you know talking to sam like if you have a surprise for my birthday you better let me know and we all sit here going yeah that makes sense we all talk to our animals. I talk to my cat all the time. I talk to my child that cannot speak back to me all the time like we're having a full conversation, right? Like that's what we do. The moment he starts talking to the mannequins, you go, oh, he's crazy. Talking to the dog, that's perfectly normal. You're having a grip on reality. Talking to the mannequins is like, oh, your dog understands you though. I say

come, he comes. I go, hi. And I go like, I say hug. My dog goes like this and will hug me. I go like this, you know, I'm like, lay down. I don't lay in my arms. It understands me. Right, like, but that's basic commands. He's having a full conversation with Sam in the bathtub. Okay, it's me and my dog. Telling Sam to eat their vegetables. I sit there and I have a full conversation with my dog, O-Show, not O-Joe, O-S-H-O. Don't say O-Joe, because it drives me crazy.

No, and I'll stay there, like, how was your day? He goes, I was like, really? It was that good. Did you miss me? You know, and I'm like, please don't stir your food like that. Like, it's not, like, I do that. I sit there and I do that. And sometimes I'm like, we all do.

I'll even sit there and I'll be like, I'm like, oh my gosh, today I'm so sad. I was like, I just need a hug, oh, show you to hug him. Right. But it's the way they look at you. That's fair. It's the way they like, they do somewhat respond and react and they can feel your emotions, you know? Yeah, I get it. But I understand the point you're making, but I am that person.

I find the juxtaposition really, really funny of like we watch him. It's a good way of revealing that he's not. right in the head without giving it away right at the top we see him having a conversation with the dog we're like that's normal that is a man who is a okay at least you know he's maybe a little messed up yeah and then he starts talking to the mannequins and you go oh he's not okay he talks to the dog the same way he talks to the mannequins yeah he has been alone for a very long time yeah i just think i think it's a clever way of depicting it's kind of like that one movie um with he gets stranded on the island

and he talks of volleyball. Oh, cast away with Tom Hanks, yes. It's kind of like, yeah, it's kind of the same thing, right? You attach yourself to something that helps you to get through these difficult, painful times of isolation.

Like, I feel like anybody would do it, honestly. And even though, like, I feel like, you know, Will Smith had a better companion. That's true, a better companion than a blood print volleyball. Yes, and he, he had also like a lot of mannequins and stuff where we just had one Wilson in that film uh just

one you know but you think about when he throws that throws in the ocean he's like yeah and then he's like I'm sorry you know yes yeah yeah yeah yeah you get attached to the things that you can you fill in those attachments because humans are social creatures it's a real thing and we will look for that social anywhere even if it's an inanimate object if we are alone yes and it's a real thing because we were not we were not born or created to be isolated or alone. We were created to be socialized and to be with other human beings

and have that human touch and connection. Otherwise we start going a little loopy. Yeah. Little oaky. Nobody wants to be isolated. No. But I feel like his daughter saved his life by leaving Sam with him.

Honestly, that was like, because he didn't want to take, he didn't want to take him. He was like, he said, I can't take her, I can't take her. And she, her words, Sam protect daddy. And Sam did just that. He did.

Right up to the last moment, she protected Will Smith. And I love how Will Smith looked over and that girl had a tattoo of butterfly on her neck. And he's like, I hear God, I'm listening. What a great final line is like, you know, finally acknowledging that, hey, maybe I can hope. Maybe there is room for me to believe. Yeah, it was a beautiful. There might be a colony out there. And if I can get you out with the cure, maybe, just maybe, things can be fixed.

And then I did my job. But even when he went to grab the picture of his little girl and his wife, you know, I feel like there is something bittersweet in that because now they can be together again. Yeah. You know, finally. And it was almost like, I can go now to you. It was like, I can come. I fulfilled my promise.

I fulfilled. I came here. I did what I need to do. Now I can come home. Now I can come home. And I'd be with my family. Yep. And it was just deep.

Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking deep. But, like, wonderful. I actually, I would watch this film again. I would. I think it was a really good film. I think it's, I thought it was a little scary. A really well done.

But it was very well done. Like zombie infected movie that feels different to other ones, you know? Yes. It wasn't like your typical everyday, like zombie. Yeah, yeah. I like that we had order. I like that there was a time. I like that we had things like figured out.

I really liked the structure of this entire film. And I really did enjoy this film. There's parts of me that wishes it was still going. Right. Like you had more I am legend. I would have loved to have more of I am legend. But at the same time, I'm also accepting and I'm like okay with the length it was. But it did, I felt like it went by fairly quickly.

It goes. moves at a clip and it's impressive because Will Smith is the only actor for the most part in that movie until like the final third. Yes. He's like too much commands the screen. He commands your attention and you never get tired of seeing his face. You know, you're never like, God, I wish there was somebody else here with him. Yes.

His ability to command your attention really is displayed nicely here. Hell, it's hard hosting by yourself. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like just think about it like that. Like to act and command a film the way he did and to hold your attention and to just make it so strong and powerful. Yeah. Like that, that's a big deal.

Mm-hmm. Like, not just anybody can pull this film off and he did. No, he did a really, really good job. He did a really, really good job. Well done. Well done. Well done. I love this film. You all, let us know your thoughts in the comments.

If there's anything we missed or you would like to say. say or bring up. You know what to do? Throw it in the comments. And if you haven't done so already, please hit that subscribe button, bell icons, all notifications upvote this video for both of us. We love you. And thank you for your love and support. Always. I'm Kristen Steffasapino. I'm Michael Boos. And we will see you next time. This episode is brought to you by progressive insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Make another smart choice with AutoQuote Explorer to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try it at

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