Directed & Written by : Brian Helgeland
Starring : Tom Hardy, Emily Browning
Release Date : September 9, 2015
The true story about the identical twin gangster brothers Reggie Kray and Ronnie Kray is very interesting and fascinating, which is probably why this movie is called "Legend." Unfortunately, this movie is just all over the place, ranging from tediousness to excitement, from being humorous to being melodramatic, with a pace that feels too slow or too fast at times. It's already a decently long movie at being 132 minutes long, but it felt even longer when watching it.
Part of the problem with this movie is that it feels like it's trying to do too much for this medium. The story of the Krays is probably something that would have been better told as a documentary or a TV mini-series. What we got instead is yet another biographical film, and all the problems that comes with it. The movie just becomes a series of highlights that are told back to back to back. The voice over monologue explaining what's happening doesn't necessarily make things better either.
At least there is one primary highlight and reason to watching this movie. Tom Hardy playing the roles of both Reggie and Ronnie Kray. It's incredible what he's done here, as it can be easy to fall into the idea that there are actually two different actors playing the two characters. In part it's probably because Hardy differentiates things by playing Reggie as this charming and focused individual, and plays Ronnie with this over the top performance of craziness. There are many other actors and characters to see here, like Emily Browning, David Thewlis, or Taron Egerton, but Tom Hardy outshines them all.
It's unfortunate that while "Legend" is a good vehicle to showcase the acting talents of Tom Hardy, the movie itself is just mediocre. I liked some of it's humor and fight sequences, but I found the story telling to be rather flat.
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