Released: 5th March
Cert: 16
Walking into a screening of ‘Legion’ I was very excited. I had followed the production quite closely as I found the general concept very interesting and have long thought that Paul Bettany would make a great action star. I have seen the movie now; it is something to get excited about??
‘Legion’ centers on the apocalypse. God has lost all faith in humanity and sends a plague of angels to exterminate mankind. We see this from the perspective of a group of people at a diner in Arizona. Among these people are the owner Bob (Denis Quaid), his son Jeep (Lucas Black) and a pregnant waitress Charlie (Adrianne Palicki). We also meet Michael (Paul Bettany); a mysterious stranger who assigns himself to protecting Charlie as her unborn child is the only hope of mankind surviving.
I won’t spoil anymore of the plot but can safely say that the situation comes to an action packed conclusion.
The idea of ‘Legion’, although slightly thin, is a very interesting one. At the beginning I was hooked, the movie creates a great background for the following events. It’s unfortunate that the story and characters themselves really fall short of being cohesive or engaging.
Any scenes which feature Michael addressing the characters or beating the crap out of some angels are entertaining but the movie puts a lot of focus on the survivors in the diner and these scenes feel contrived. This is not a fault of the actors, more a fault of the script. There is no feeling of consequence imparted on the viewer. The dialogue is awkward and clunky and the secondary characters feel like an afterthought. Bettany is the undeniable star performer of the cast and generally steals all his scenes.
Do not mess with this man!!
The action is well shot and production quality is very clear in the picture, but these values are simply hindered by bad pacing, dialogue and a questionable plot which will leave the viewer more confused than entertained. Certain pivotal scenes have very little effect because of the limited exploration of the story and poorly conceived characters.
I wanted so much to love ‘Legion’. I am a proud fan of Bettany and am delighted that he can show his prowess in embracing an action role. But his performance and some good production values unfortunately aren’t enough to stop this movie from feeling like a wasted opportunity.
5.5 Decent
Legion Movie Trailer
