Climbing Higher Pictures

Legion Review

By Ryan Hamelin

Movie Grade: B

Paul Bettany is officially a badass. Anybody who can believably play divinity, in the form of an angel, while dual wielding M16s, is a force to be reckoned with. Granted, if the sound of the angel Michael shooting people with semi-automatic weaponry doesn’t appeal to you… this probably isn’t the kind of movie you’d enjoy anyway. Legion plays with the idea that the apocalypse might not come in the form of a beige and brown washed out color palette and people stumbling around unsure of what actually caused the end of the world. It might, in fact, happen just like the good book said it would, with fire and brimstone and an army of angels. In that case, what would you do if you were about to be exterminated by a biblical invasion? Grabbing the nearest weapon seems like the smart thing to do.

The biggest thing the movie has going for it is that the whole exercise seems to have been written from the perspective of what the filmmakers thought would be the most fun. Every major beat, whether it’s dramatic or comedic, is aimed at providing a very specific type of entertainment, and if you’re looking for something deeper then you’ve clearly come to the wrong party. The setting is a little bit drab, just because we don’t ever get the chance to leave the little way station in the mid-west for the flick’s entire runtime, but the movie doesn’t bore you either. Surprisingly enough, Legion manages to take its time in the set-up, even if it means that the third act isn’t nearly as satisfying as the build up would have had you believe. The script is the only really weak part of the exercise, and it probably could have used a little more time in the oven.

The look of the film is really great, with dramatic night lighting, awesome shafts of heavenly glow from time to time, and an overall darkness that pervades the mood of the whole piece. The art design of the angels and creatures is also pretty impressive for their budget, and its nice to see something other than an all white room to denote heaven. I guess it just comes down to having such a small scale for such an epic conflict. You constantly want to see more, and that keeps the film from resonating in the end.

Legion is sort of a mixed blessing. I happen to find the subject matter really interesting, yet films like Constantine seem to handle it with more grace. On the other hand, Legion makes absolutely no apologies for itself and keeps right on fighting until the final frame. Every time you think it’s over, it jumps up another notch, and if nothing else, you’re completely along for the ride. When you look back on the experience, the holes start to appear almost immediately, and it is the subsequent reflection that dooms to film to the less-than-brilliant genre category. Even so, between Daybreakers and Legion, there’s more than enough fun popcorn fantasy on the market, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t consider the film successful on its own terms. You want it to be more than it is, and I’m confident that given a bigger budget and a longer pre-production cycle, these are the types of up and coming filmmakers who could blow the doors off a theater. I’m already getting excited for Scott Stewart’s next collaboration with Bettany, Priest, due later this year. Stay posted for more news as that one starts heating up.