"I can't believe she was still standing after Percy hit her in the head with the frying pan."
Legion is the 2010 equivalent of a 1980s B-movie - lots of ambition, limited resources, a reliance on a strong cast and, of course, complete nonsense. When it works (largely the beginning and the end), the promise of what could have been an absolute gem is very clear and is hugely enjoyable. The cast is uniformly great, with the likes of Dennis Quaid, Charles S Dutton, Tyrese Gibson and the always-interesting-to-watch Lucas Black, and Paul Bettany playing against type as Angel-with-a-conscience Michael, switching between gravitas and kick-ass and clearly having a ball. This level of casting proved essential, as the terrific lively start then makes way for a relentless series of heartfelt but sometimes over-written two-handers, which do slow things down considerably but would have killed the movie stone dead in the hands of lesser actors. No doubt this is a consequence of having to present The Apocalypse on a tight budget, but FX man-turned-director Scott Stewart manages the action scenes well, especially the final smackdown between the Angels Gabriel and Michael. The director openly admits to being influenced by The Terminator, which frequently is overt on-screen, and nods to other films such as Assault On Precinct 13 and Phantoms are evident, but audience expectations are sometimes subverted, such as the set-up when the old lady first pulls up in her car. The humour is enjoyably dark, and the sense of growing threat is quite effective - all Legion needed was a couple more action beats in the mid-section to keep up the momentum. It's not quite Tremors with Angels, but Legion is certainly entertaining.
Legion is the 2010 equivalent of a 1980s B-movie - lots of ambition, limited resources, a reliance on a strong cast and, of course, complete nonsense. When it works (largely the beginning and the end), the promise of what could have been an absolute gem is very clear and is hugely enjoyable. The cast is uniformly great, with the likes of Dennis Quaid, Charles S Dutton, Tyrese Gibson and the always-interesting-to-watch Lucas Black, and Paul Bettany playing against type as Angel-with-a-conscience Michael, switching between gravitas and kick-ass and clearly having a ball. This level of casting proved essential, as the terrific lively start then makes way for a relentless series of heartfelt but sometimes over-written two-handers, which do slow things down considerably but would have killed the movie stone dead in the hands of lesser actors. No doubt this is a consequence of having to present The Apocalypse on a tight budget, but FX man-turned-director Scott Stewart manages the action scenes well, especially the final smackdown between the Angels Gabriel and Michael. The director openly admits to being influenced by The Terminator, which frequently is overt on-screen, and nods to other films such as Assault On Precinct 13 and Phantoms are evident, but audience expectations are sometimes subverted, such as the set-up when the old lady first pulls up in her car. The humour is enjoyably dark, and the sense of growing threat is quite effective - all Legion needed was a couple more action beats in the mid-section to keep up the momentum. It's not quite Tremors with Angels, but Legion is certainly entertaining.
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