Warning!
Contains spoilers!
The Kray
twins divide the opinions of the British public. On the one hand
these gangsters ruled through fear and violence but on the other they
liked drinking tea. There have been many reproductions of their life
and I'm sure they are all wonderful to that particular fan base. But
I'm here for Tom Hardy. And Tom Hardy. All will be explained. M&M's
will have to take a week off. This is a serious film about gangsters
in the sixties. Minstrels will have to step up instead.
'Legend'
is a 1985 film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise.
Psych! 'Legend' (2015) follows Reggie Kray (Tom Hardy) as he expands
his criminal empire in the east of London. He is respected at feared
in equal measure. Everything looks pucker until his mentally unstable
brother gets out of prison. Ronald Kray (also Tom Hardy) is a
certifiable nutter. If that wasn't bad enough, Reggie has fallen for
Frances Shea (Emily Browning). He now has to keep all these plates
spinning - building and empire, controlling his brother and falling
in love. Can he keep his love life separate from work? Will the
laughably inept police get wise to his naughty shenanigans? What
could possibly go wrong? Turns out, quite a lot!
I'm going
to jump on the band wagon – Tom Hardy is wonderful. Twice. He
brings bother characters uniquely alive in very different ways.
Reggie is the cool headed, sure footed, silver tongue wagging classic
British gangster. Ron is a sociopath who could do anything in the
next five minutes. Its wonderful to witness! When Reggie is on scream
he just oozes charm and charisma while there is that constant quiet
dread when Ron does... umm.... well, anything. Hardy just keeps
getting better. He is a wonderful character actor made all the more
impressive by his imposing size. Just wait for the scenes where Ron
and Reggie are sitting together and not even talking. Great stuff. I
have to give a big shout out to the wonderful Emily Browning. I like
to focus on an actors performance (and she is brilliant) but it would
be remiss to point out that throughout the film she is the
personification of all that was beautiful and sexy about the sixties.
I cant believe her filmography is so small! More from the future
please Miss Browing. There are lots of other big names (and medium)
names attached to the film. Each does there part well with not a note
out of place.
'Legend'
is a period flick. Credit has to be given to everyone who built this
film from the ground up. Two points stood out for me. The sixties are
so honestly and naturally portrayed that the director must have had
access to a time machine. 'Legend' dodges the feeling of being shot
in a green room or on restored location. The realness of the setting
is so genuine that you stop looking for the edges. One can almost
smell the docks and eel pies. Secondly, I have to praise the
soundtrack. I usually only notice the score when its off tone but
'Legend' raps itself in the warm blanket of kick-ass tunes from the
decade of soul. Try not to tap your feet. Or sing along a little
under your breath.
I don't
want to give the impression that 'Legend' is a flawless epic, far
from it. Despite enjoying myself I did have the nagging feeling that
I didn't quite know who the protagonist was. The film is narrated by
Frances but we experience the film from the perspective of Reggie.
This causes another blip. Are were watching a gangster film or a love
story. I still don't have an answer. For all the hard work that Hardy
put into the twin roles its a little shame that on a few occasions
the CGI looks like it was done by the work experience kid and we can
laughable see the superimposed head of Hardy on another actors body
while in the next shot it becomes flawless. Its also a little on the
chunky side, the middle drags and I started to wonder where all the
gangstering had gone. I have kneecapped a film for mucking around
with tone and pacing but I find myself making excuses when it comes
to 'Legend'. If that isn't a testament to how much I was enjoying
myself then nothing is.
'Legend'
scrapes past with four Brian faces out of five. Go and check it out
me ol' china!
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