CINEMA: Legion
You can’t fault Legion for taking a decidedly fresh look at an old theme and running with it, it’s just it doesn’t bother to look which direction it’s running in and slams headfirst into a dead end.
So, the end of the world is nigh; as the angels of heaven rally around for the Apocalypse and the destruction of mankind, one dark angel decides to swap allegiances, hack off his wings and join in with the men. And where does he decide this defiant last stand will take place? In a diner in the middle of the Mojave Desert of course.
The angel in question is Michael (Paul Bettany) who finds the diner occupied by a ragtag bunch of people including the disillusioned owner (Dennis Quaid), his sweet natured son (Lucas Black) and a heavily pregnant waitress (Adrianne Palicki). He quickly has to rally his unwilling troops (who, if you haven’t guessed by now, represent characters from the Bible including Jezebel, Mary, Joseph, the Good Samaritan, etc) in order to battle demonic grannies, vampiric babies and assorted other nasties, which is when what starts out as jolly good fun simply loses the plot.
The huge great army of angels never materialise, the humans manage to hold out with little more than a few rounds of ammo and a lighter and Michael has a quick round of handbags with his angelic brother Gabriel (Kevin Durand) that is less full of the might and power of God than being a simplistic exercise in special effects.
I don’t know about other viewers but if mankind is about to be annihilated I for one want us all to go out in a bruising big bang rather than in some petty squabble, especially not in a diner in the Mojave Desert. So, eight for a nice try, but only a four for execution.
Author: Dee Pilgrim
Dee always knew she wanted to make her living from writing and so trained as a journalist before working for a variety of music and women’s titles including Sounds, Company, Cosmopolitan, Ms London, New Woman, and Girl About Town. After going freelance she concentrated on celebrity interviews and film, theatre, music and restaurant reviews. Her love of film goes back to her very first cinema experience at the age of five when her mother took her to see Bambi. She cried. At one time she was the Film Editor for NOW magazine and also the secretary for the film section of the Critics’ Circle and the celebrity coordinator for its annual film awards’ event. She has written a number of books for teenagers through Trotman Publishing, including five Real Life Guides to vocational careers (including Carpentry, Plumbing and Catering), and also three books on Real Life Issues (Money, Bereavement and Self Harm). Her favourite film is still Bladerunner.
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