The good news is that doctors have discovered a cure for cancer. The bad news is that the cure proves to be worse than the disease, turning all of humanity into a screaming hoard of cannibalistic zombies. That’s the setup for the new Will Smith movie, “I Am Legend” in which Big Willie plays the last uninfected man on earth in a film that’s part-apocalyptic drama, part zombie action flick.

Based on Richard Matheson’s influential 1954 novella, we’ve already seen this story on film twice before, most notably with Charlton Heston fighting off mutant vampires in the cheese-tastic “The Omega Man.” I’m not certain why filmmakers felt the story needed to be updated, but I’ll admit that there’s a lot of fun to be had here.

Smith plays Robert Neville, a military scientist who proves to be immune to the virus that wipes out the rest of the world. Stuck on the quickly crumbling island of Manhattan, Neville spends his days hunting, scavenging and searching for any signs of life. He spends his nights barricaded up in a Washington Square Park brownstone, hoping that the zombies sniffing around outside won’t find a way to break down his door. In his spare time, he does a bit of medical research on captured mutants, working to find a cure even though there may not be anybody left to cure.

As was the case with Tom Hanks in “Castaway,” this is pretty much a one-man show, and Smith proves to have the acting chops to keep us interested in the story. OK, so he does have a canine companion, Sam, who proves to be a lot more expressive than just some inanimate volleyball. I’ll admit it; I was completely caught up by the emotional bond between this man and his dog. I’ll also admit to being scared by the horror aspects of the film.

But I must also admit to laughing at some pretty bad special effects work, and to being totally caught off guard at the film’s abrupt ending. The bottom line is that this is a very entertaining action flick that succeeds because Smith oozes charisma out of every pore, and because it’s cool to see a post-apocalyptic New York City. I wish that they’d spent a bit more on the special effects and hashed out a more-satisfying ending, but all in all, this is still waaaaaaaay better that Heston’s “The Omega Man.”

Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published bi-weekly in “The Port Arthur News.” Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@kavutv.com.