The director Francis Lawrence seems to be interested in exploring the psychological horrors of people fighting lone man wars against the forces of evil and makes a far superior thriller this time around than his last chaotically empty noise-fest, Constantine. Generating suspense from the old cliché of creeping around dark corners is rarely effective but Lawrence, perhaps having taken notes from the great British horror film, The Descent, crafts a genuine one where he uses flickering lighting sparingly to build a good amount of dread. More crucially, he is patient enough this time to fully utilize Smith’s depth and complexity and explore Neville’s constant battle for his own sanity.

The first two acts of the film with Neville alone are so engaging that it is sad to see the film ultimately give way to trite Hollywood action in the third act. There is a potentially intriguing character introduced when a woman, Anna (Alice Braga), along with a boy, Ethan (Charlie Tahan), rescues an almost suicidal Neville and says that she was led by God to go to New York and find him. But, at last, even this intriguing idea of how the seeking of God figures into a desolate existence gives way to a climactic battle Neville fights against the typically fast-running humanoid zombies. Then there is the melodramatic ending that feels so abrupt and heavy-handed.

In the end, it is ultimately the work of Will Smith that carries the movie’s themes and moral questions through, warts and all. He has yet to find the perfect script to match up to his talent, as even his good films like Men in Black, Enemy of the State or last year’s The Pursuit of Happyness rely too much on generic Hollywood conventions. But he is always adroit enough to elevate the material he is given and doing that all by himself here, he proves that he is a born movie star.

Bottom line: Well worth seeing.