Sinners’ Jack O’Connell Is The Best I Am Legend Villain We Never Had

All great vampire movies have some bloodstains left behind by the great genre entries of the past, and “Sinners” is no different. It carries the sharp-toothed tension of the likes of “30 Days of Night” and “From Dusk till Dawn,” with writer-director Ryan Coogler also bringing a welcome dose of originality with his eardrum-infesting entry. What’s perhaps the biggest and almost bittersweet surprise about “Sinners,” however, is in his main vampire antagonist, Remmick, played by the unsettling Jack O’Connell.

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Firstly, there’s nothing bad to highlight about O’Connell’s performance. In fact, we dare say there’s not enough of this toothy gatecrasher who rocks up at Smoke and Stack’s (Michael B. Jordan) new juke joint. However, deep-cut fans of the fanged variety might find Remmick’s tactics strongly reminiscent of a literary vampiric villain by the name of Ben Cortman. A vampire from a different time and of a more scientific origin, Ben is the foil to Robert Neville, the lone protagonist of Richard Matheson’s beloved sci-fi horror classic, “I Am Legend.” The novella has been adapted for the screen a few times, but the best known movie (and the only one to share a title with the source material) is 2007’s “I Am Legend,” starring Will Smith. Unlike the vampires in the original novel, the monsters in that movie are feral and voiceless, so there’s no Ben Cortman.

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“Sinners” highlights what a missed opportunity that was. With every clever tactic and every charming bit of persuasion Remmick uses to tempt the Smokestack twins and their friends out of the juke joint, he highlights what was missing from the 2007 film. Fortunately, it’s something that could be explored in the planned “I Am Legend” sequel.

Directed by Francis Lawrence, 2007’s “I Am Legend” saw Will Smith as the last human left alive in Manhattan following the outbreak of a mutating virus. The interesting (and wasteful) choice of turning Matheson’s self-aware, organized vampires into primitive “Darkseekers” remains one of the film’s most significant flaws. The sentience and intelligence of the creatures at Neville’s door every time the sun goes down adds to the psychological torture our hero is forced to endure in Matheson’s original novella. Their efforts to tempt him outside are primarily orchestrated by the head vampire — and Robert’s former next-door neighbor — Ben Cortman.

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In the book, Cortman stands outside the house of the last living inhabitant of Gardena, California, with one simple request night after night: “Come out, Neville.” It’s a suggestion that’s made all the more tempting as flocks of naked women strike lewd poses on his lawn to show Robert Neville just what he’s missing out on.

A similar array of tactics is applied by Remmick — who, as hideous and manipulative as he might be, is just another lost soul trying to make a place in a land that is anything but free. Every conversation he has across the threshold of the juke joint isn’t of terror but temptation, as he tries to sway Smoke and the other survivors to join his rabble outside. When words fail they try music, crooning the chorus of “Will Ye Go, Lassie Go?” and dancing an almost euphoric jig to “The Rocky Road to Dublin.” It’s this glimpse at a life beyond death that humanizes these monsters in a way that “I Am Legend” didn’t. 

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You’d hope that after such an impressive outing as characters on both sides of a vampire attack, Michael B. Jordan signed up for the in-development “I Am Legend” sequel because he saw similar potential in its story. Currently, all that returning star Will Smith has confirmed is that Michael B. Jordan’s character is “the head of a new settlement.” It would be interesting if, following the 18-year time gap, the Darkseekers have somehow evolved and become more akin to Matheson’s original creation, and Jordan’s character is one of them. The sequel is already refining the story the first film mapped out for the better by running off the alternate ending; why not do the same with the CGI creatures, which now resemble PlayStation 2 game bosses by comparison?

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Admittedly, if “I Am Legend 2” does take this route, it will no doubt get compared to the brilliantly bitey horror that Jordan has delivered in “Sinners,” but isn’t that a good thing? Like the creatures that plague the film, “Sinners” is the offspring of what came before it. The bloodline of vampire movies has already been strengthened by Ryan Coogler’s excellent addition, featuring two Michael B. Jordans and a soundtrack we don’t expect to leave our heads for a very long time. If Jordan brings any ingredients over from “Sinners” to “I Am Legend 2,” it can only be a good thing.

“Sinners” is playing in theaters now. Solana Token Creator