The TV Addict 

Before reading any further, both this clip and my comments below contain numerous SPOILERS to the film I AM LEGEND, so if you have not seen it yet, venture no further.
All set? Okay.

I AM LEGEND was conflicting film for me, largely because I loved the first half of it, and completely hated the second half. The dividing point for me was the death of the dog. It’s not just because I absolutely adore dogs and hate to see them hurt in film, largely because mine had to be put down at the young age of five several years back (in fact, she was lying in my lap much the same way Will Smith’s character’s dog was). It was also because after that gut-wrenching moment the movie completely derailed from its rather astounding and engaging set-up and environment and devolved into stereotypical Hollywood shlock. In other words, it turned into a Will Smith film when before it wasn’t entirely. In fact, it wasn’t unlike CASTAWAY, just with Will Smith, who proved himself as able to hold his own as the sole person on screen as Tom Hanks did.
So does this alternate ending help at all? A little. In the original theatrical ending I felt Will Smith’s sacrificial death was too forced, milked for the shock effect of seeing Smith (our hero) die, rather than anything related to the character. By that I do not mean it was an action that didn’t make sense for the character. It did, given that the film spent a fair amount of time setting up his sense of guilt over unfulfilled obligations. It just felt that the creators chose that ending because “Oh no, Will Smith died!” instead of the more dramatic reasons to have Neville die.

As for my preference for this alternate ending, yes, the final segment with the characters driving away from Manhattan is pure Hollywood feel-goodery (right up the fact that they are driving on a bridge I could have sworn was destroyed earlier in a flashback), but I find it much easier to swallow than the theatrical endings over-sentimental sacrifice and subsequent instilment of hope when the woman and child find a survivor’s camp. I also found it much more tense and thrilling when he ventures out amongst the infected, and surprisingly more poignant in how it aims to humanize the infected a bit (even if that can’t rescue the horrible special effects).

What did you guys think? Do you prefer this ending or the one you saw in theatres?