Immune to the doctor’s supposedly curative immunity virus that ravaged the human population, Neville seems to be the last man left alive in an empty world. Ironically pairing heavy use of CGI mattes with a refreshing and unexpected amount of location shooting in Manhattan, Lawrence uses these true-false locations to emotionally enhance the solitary existence of solider-scientist Robert Neville (Will Smith). Like Children of Men before it, Lawrence uses extensive special effects less to inspire awe and more to build atmosphere and a convincing world of lost hope. After a startlingly well-played television interview by an uncredited Emma Thompson, whose character claims to have cured cancer, the film jumps several years forward to the desolate and overgrown streets of an abandoned New York City.
