Review – Legend

Legend is much like the brothers the movie is about.  Ronnie Kray, the smooth, business savvy brother trying to stay clean, represents the good.  He’s charming, treats his wife well for the most part, doesn’t want to kill anyone, and will fight when he needs to.  His brother, Reggie, is a mentally unstable, violent mess who represents the bad.  Separate, Ronnie could have done great things.  However, due to the chaos his brother caused, he couldn’t sustain the life that he wanted.  Together, they are a flawed but effective team.  And that’s exactly what happened to Legend.  It was a film that could have been great, but because the story and tone is all over the place, it makes for a good, but flawed film.

Legend tells the story of the Kray Twins Reggie (Tom Hardy) and Ronnie (Tom Hardy), two of London’s most notorious gangsters who built a crime organization in the 1960’s.

Legend can’t decide what kind of movie it wants to be in terms of tone and story.  The beginning of the film feels like a gangster love story in the same vein as Goodfellas (1990) as Ronnie falls for the love of his life Frances (Emily Browning) while also being a respected and intimidating force in the East End.  There is even a cool, single take tracking shot when Ronnie takes Frances out on a date to the bar that he owns and Ronnie shakes hands and greets everyone he comes in contact with while Frances stares in awe, much like the Copacabana scene in Goodfellas.  But then, we are introduced to Reggie and the movie begins to fall of the rails.  It goes from being a gangster movie and love story, to a family drama about the bond of brothers while also having some insane and slapstick-y moments.  It also becomes a movie about a man who wants to stay on the outside of the gangster world, but is forced to be part of it, as Ronnie has to make up for Reggie’s erratic behavior.  This shift in focus continues to go back and forth through out the the rest of the film.  It is all over the place and doesn’t allow us to fully grasp of the Kray’s legacy.  I like the contrast of the brother’s personalities and logic and I like the themes and ideas of the film, but it all needed to be tightened up for a better flow.

We also get some extreme tonal shifts.  Most of the film has an enjoyable, entertaining feel to it, which allows for a fun watch.  But the last third of the film gets really dark and depressing, which dampers the overall filmgoing experience and doesn’t fit with the rest of the film.

Tom Hardy does great work as the twins.  He is playing two completely different people and does a good job making them distinguishable.  The movie is really about Ronnie and Hardy shows us the conflicts in his life of wanting to not be a gangster, but succumbing to the life.  And he his hilariously bizarre and the Reggie, who is like a bull in a china shop when it comes to anything.  At times though, it felt like Hardy brought in a couple of his past roles and put them in here.  It felt like Eames from Inception (2010)  and Charles Bronson from Bronson (2009) were brothers.  It is always impressive to watch an actor play two different roles in the same movie, so kudos to Hardy for doing it well and making the movie worth the price of admission.  Browning also does some solid work as Ronnie’s strong-willed wife, but I felt she got lost in the chaos of the second act.

I was really hoping Legend would be great.  I wanted a modern gangster classic with an iconic performance.  Legend is far from a bad movie, it is in fact a pretty good movie.  It had the potential to be great and missed that potential due to its unfocused, chaotic story and tone.  However, Hardy is worth every penny and proves why he is one of Hollywood’s best.

MY RATING – 3/4

Did you see Legend?  If so, what did you think?  What is your favorite Tom Hardy performance?  Comment below, hit me on on Twitter @kevflix or on my Facebook page at Kevflix (click the name to get to the page).