Film Reviews

Legion

• Rating:
• Director: Scott Stewart
• Starring: Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Kate Walsh, Lucas Black
• Details: US/TBC 16

A mishmash of genres, and indeed specific films, Legion sounds like a lot more fun than it actually turns out to be. Most of this can be laid at the door of a relatively paltry budget given the scale that this story would require, but there are still some impressive performances and the budgetary constraints allow us to take in considerably more character work than this type of production would normally offer. It's actually less silly than you'd think - up until the point the director runs out of ideas to cover up the fiscal shortcomings and then things get really ridiculous. It's all kicking off in heaven. God is annoyed that humanity is taking the piss, so decides to hit the reset button by sending some gun-toting angels to earth to teach us all a lesson - by killing us. But Paul Bettany's Archangel Michael see's hope in humankind and goes rogue; deciding to turn against the big man and show him that folk aren’t all bad. Turning up in the dessert in a rundown diner with an eclectic bunch of occupants, he tells the promiscuous waitress that her soon-to-be-born offspring is the savoir of humanity - so he needs to protect it at all costs. But, somewhat understandably, God won't go down without a scuffle. Be it be a homage or stealing, whatever you wanna call it, Legion has unavoidable similarities to James Cameron's Terminator; while also echoing the religious angle of the lesser known Prophesy films. The problem with comparisons to the former is the complete lack of a noteworthy villain, while dialogue here also out numbers the action. When the bad guy makes his inevitable entrance, he does so without an ounce of menace and promptly has his arse handed to him by Bettany's more searing presence. It's a film that really shows promise at points; for its resourceful first-time director Scott Stewart, and for Paul Bettany as an action hero. Stewart has skill and imagination; he knows how to direct actors - kudos to Lucas Black and Adrianne Palicki for their responsive turns. Bettany's intense hero is a man of few words, and shows the British actor in an entirely new light as a kick-ass man of action. He might not have the perfect vehicle for those talents here, but he'll undoubtedly carry an Uzi on screen again.

Review by Mike Sheridan