I went to see Legend at the cinema and I don't regret it. I liked learning more about the kray twins and thought that Tom Hardy did a fantastic job acting the pair out.
"Come to Philadelphia! You see a nice girl, we'll get her for you!
I prefer boys. Italians, sometimes Greek, but I am not prejudiced. "
"Legend" certainly won't be remembered as a brilliant gangster movie. You certainly can't compare it with a gangster epos like "The Godfather" or "The untouchables". This film about the notorious Kray twins surely exhibits a successful retro look and shows how the brothers founded their business empire full of glamor and violence, and how it gradually crumbled. Partly because they were constantly watched by the authorities and also because of the psychotic behavior of one of the brothers. The best part of this film is Tom Hardy's acting performance. It looks like a rematch after "Mad Max: Fury Road" where he served as a defenseless blood donor and where he was outplayed by Charlize Theron. "I'm going to show everybody my capabilities" he probably thought. And so he volunteered to play both twin brothers.
It took me a while before I suddenly realized that I was looking at the same person. It's creepy to see how different those two main characters are. Not just physically but also their personalities differ. Ron has chubby cheeks, old-fashioned glasses and a drooping lower lip so during an outburst of anger you'll see spit flying in all directions. Reggie is the brushed off, athletic and more intelligent type. He's the mastermind behind the whole operation and has both a charming as a ruthless side. But mainly the over-protectiveness towards his brother is a disadvantage. Ron is the unpredictable part of the twins. He's rather short-tempered and needs to take medications to keep that in control. Most attention is paid to the difficult relationship between the two brothers. An astonishing piece of acting.
Don't expect a lot of violent scenes. There's only the incident in a local pub with a rival gang where the brothers briefly demonstrate their tough approach. Rest assured there will be some of them walking around with sore kneecaps. The rest of the movie is filled with the familiar "policeman tries to catch the criminal without much success", short stays in prison, a slowly burgeoning relationship which is doomed to become a failure and the collapse of the Kray Empire due to a crazy brother. Furthermore a big applause for the scenery and authenticity you can admire. The old London of the '60s revived again in this film. The soundtrack matched perfectly. And then there's also some humor hidden in this film.
You can't call this film legendary. It's a mixture of different story lines. The ins and outs of a gangster duo who kept the underworld of London firmly in their grip. Connections with the American mafia is maintained in order to build up a money laundering circuit. The charismatic brother starts a relationship with the lovely Frances (Emily Browning) who hopes that Reggie abandons his gangster life. And the wedge driven by Frances between the two brothers is something Ron can't live with. So he starts reacting totally schizophrenic. The biggest obstacle for me were the dialogs in a fairly heavy English dialect. Especially mumbling Ron was difficult to understand. The only legendary thing about "Legend", was the world performance Tom Hardy had in store.
Wow, I had absolutely no idea about Hardy's performance in this until now after when I read the comments here. Not the greatest movie ever by any means, but that revelation will stay with me for some time.
Very good. I learnt about the Keats, then found out some wasn't the case. Decent enough does he's fairly typical Hardy in this. Similar personas to Bane, Revenant and others.
I saw The Krays back in 1990, but I'll be damned if I retain anything but the vaguest of memories. So Legend is the better biopic for London's famous gangster bruvvers. But it's still a biopic, with everything that entails, by which I mean it goes from anecdote to anecdote, event to event, and doesn't really gel into something that takes us beyond the presentational. We've seen the Rise and Fall of the Gangster many times, narrated by some character (a strange choice in this case), and Legend doesn't really bring anything new to the genre. The real reason to watch it is Tom Hardy's double performance as the Krays, so distinct you often forget you're watching the same actor in both roles. The brothers' relationship is at the core of the film, and there's almost an attempt to pit them has two halves of the same person, but not really. The conflict being so internal, it sidelines Christopher Eccleston*'s copper for much of the film, to the point where maybe the police needn't have been proper characters.
If you want to watch a movie about the Krays, watch the original- The Krays 1990. I feel it is much better. Tom Hardy is a great actor, but couldn't save this movie.
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Comments 1 - 13 of 13
Clintmwells
Tom Hardy is fucking incredible in this empty film.Dramaramaskell9
I went to see Legend at the cinema and I don't regret it. I liked learning more about the kray twins and thought that Tom Hardy did a fantastic job acting the pair out.ikkegoemikke
"Come to Philadelphia! You see a nice girl, we'll get her for you!I prefer boys. Italians, sometimes Greek, but I am not prejudiced. "
"Legend" certainly won't be remembered as a brilliant gangster movie. You certainly can't compare it with a gangster epos like "The Godfather" or "The untouchables". This film about the notorious Kray twins surely exhibits a successful retro look and shows how the brothers founded their business empire full of glamor and violence, and how it gradually crumbled. Partly because they were constantly watched by the authorities and also because of the psychotic behavior of one of the brothers. The best part of this film is Tom Hardy's acting performance. It looks like a rematch after "Mad Max: Fury Road" where he served as a defenseless blood donor and where he was outplayed by Charlize Theron. "I'm going to show everybody my capabilities" he probably thought. And so he volunteered to play both twin brothers.
It took me a while before I suddenly realized that I was looking at the same person. It's creepy to see how different those two main characters are. Not just physically but also their personalities differ. Ron has chubby cheeks, old-fashioned glasses and a drooping lower lip so during an outburst of anger you'll see spit flying in all directions. Reggie is the brushed off, athletic and more intelligent type. He's the mastermind behind the whole operation and has both a charming as a ruthless side. But mainly the over-protectiveness towards his brother is a disadvantage. Ron is the unpredictable part of the twins. He's rather short-tempered and needs to take medications to keep that in control. Most attention is paid to the difficult relationship between the two brothers. An astonishing piece of acting.
Don't expect a lot of violent scenes. There's only the incident in a local pub with a rival gang where the brothers briefly demonstrate their tough approach. Rest assured there will be some of them walking around with sore kneecaps. The rest of the movie is filled with the familiar "policeman tries to catch the criminal without much success", short stays in prison, a slowly burgeoning relationship which is doomed to become a failure and the collapse of the Kray Empire due to a crazy brother. Furthermore a big applause for the scenery and authenticity you can admire. The old London of the '60s revived again in this film. The soundtrack matched perfectly. And then there's also some humor hidden in this film.
You can't call this film legendary. It's a mixture of different story lines. The ins and outs of a gangster duo who kept the underworld of London firmly in their grip. Connections with the American mafia is maintained in order to build up a money laundering circuit. The charismatic brother starts a relationship with the lovely Frances (Emily Browning) who hopes that Reggie abandons his gangster life. And the wedge driven by Frances between the two brothers is something Ron can't live with. So he starts reacting totally schizophrenic. The biggest obstacle for me were the dialogs in a fairly heavy English dialect. Especially mumbling Ron was difficult to understand. The only legendary thing about "Legend", was the world performance Tom Hardy had in store.
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Minamu
Wow, I had absolutely no idea about Hardy's performance in this until now after when I read the comments here. Not the greatest movie ever by any means, but that revelation will stay with me for some time.boulderman
Very good. I learnt about the Keats, then found out some wasn't the case. Decent enough does he's fairly typical Hardy in this. Similar personas to Bane, Revenant and others.7/10
Siskoid
I saw The Krays back in 1990, but I'll be damned if I retain anything but the vaguest of memories. So Legend is the better biopic for London's famous gangster bruvvers. But it's still a biopic, with everything that entails, by which I mean it goes from anecdote to anecdote, event to event, and doesn't really gel into something that takes us beyond the presentational. We've seen the Rise and Fall of the Gangster many times, narrated by some character (a strange choice in this case), and Legend doesn't really bring anything new to the genre. The real reason to watch it is Tom Hardy's double performance as the Krays, so distinct you often forget you're watching the same actor in both roles. The brothers' relationship is at the core of the film, and there's almost an attempt to pit them has two halves of the same person, but not really. The conflict being so internal, it sidelines Christopher Eccleston*'s copper for much of the film, to the point where maybe the police needn't have been proper characters.Earring72
Tom Hardy is magnifecent in this fine crime drama. A bit too long but remains fascinatingduchin6
interesting at times,Tom Hardy was the best for me ,I thought Jack the Hat was miscast.FireFox1
Tom Hardy saved this movie becoming empty. Also a shitty soundtrack.-1flb2-
If you want to watch a movie about the Krays, watch the original- The Krays 1990. I feel it is much better. Tom Hardy is a great actor, but couldn't save this movie.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099951/
chryzsh
The story is a mess and the soundtrack is even worse, so Hardy is the only thing saving this movieSpacedJ
Boring Pseudoprotagonist (V.O.):"This happened, then this happened, I was sad, then blah blah eez mah bruvah blah blah ...."
JoshuaBox
Next to no storyline,and an Awful soundtrack.
But great camerawork,
and a decent performance from Tom.
Meh.