FilmSnobReviews

Title: Legend
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Taron Egerton
Runtime:2 hrs 12 mins

What It Is: In 1960’s London the Kray brothers Ronald (Hardy) and Reggie (Hardy) are trying to control the city. With that comes the need to gain respect and eliminate enemies and for the Krays that comes with taking out the Richardson gang and trying to absorb their turf. With the American mafia interested in the Kray’s help and Scotland Yard on their tale, they’ll have more than a few issues that need settling. Couple that with Ronald’s mental illness and you have a bevy of bad all falling on Reggie’s feet.

What We Think: Hardy’s performance is way too good for this movie. There’s nothing spectacular about any of this. It is shot with basic selection it doesn’t do anything special with its camera movement either. Even the other actors in this cannot seem to contain the juggernaut performance of the lead star. You also get the feeling like this movie could have been something really special but that it instead falls flat in more ways than I can count. I mentioned this in my Oscar nomination video but a lot of what Hardy has done this year is just mumbling. That’s not to take away from how good it is.

Our Grade: D+, I really wanted this to be like a great movie but it just isn’t. Emily Browning is good but like Hardy, she is let down by standard direction and a lackluster script. There’s a ton of different stories about the Krays available out there for people who really want to check it out. If you need your Tom Hardy fix we have a ton of his films that are better for you to watch including Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Locke, and The Drop. As for this, I really cannot recommend this one. Stick with literally anything else he’s done recently, well except Child 44 I haven’t seen it but I’ve heard awful things.