I am Legend.

Be amazed. I am Legend was a gripping enough book that it stole an entire FOUR HOURS of my warcraft time, demanding to be absorbed.

It is a good book. Sadly, I feel somewhat out of context for it. I read on wikipedia that in 1954, when this book was written, it was the first novel with an “analytical slant towards vampires.” Now, I grew up seeing Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the Blade Trilogy, the Anne Rice Movie adaptations, et al. There’s plenty of analysis for vampire origins in those movies, so I kind of wish I was able to read the book without all of this absorbed mythology. Also, I’m not well versed in vampire novels, but this is the only one I’ve read that takes place in a post apocalyptic setting.

But even tho I read or saw many of its descendants before reading it, I still really enjoyed the book. After I was done reading it, one of my roomates asked me, “So is it a cool story?” The discussion that followed got me wondering about the upcoming movie adaptation starring Will Smith. Specifically, I wonder how it will do with audiences.

Plot Spoiler Follows.

Most vampire blockbusters lately have involved badasses kicking tail all over the screen in orgies of blood, gunpowder, and katanas. Assuming the ending is kept the same, will a movie where the one remaining human that we find ourselves caring about, who is surrounded by vampires, ends up turning out to be the Monster of the story be received well?

/discuss