Legend

For F*** Magazine

LEGEND

Director : Brian Helgeland

Cast : Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Christopher Eccleston, Taron Egerton, Paul Bettany, David Thewlis, Chazz Palminteri

Genre : Drama/Crime

Run Time : 132 mins

Opens : 12 November 2015

Rating : M18 (Violence and Coarse Language)

After going Mad earlier this year, Tom Hardy’s going Kray-zy in this gangster biopic. Hardy plays both Ronnie and Reggie Kray, identical twins who ruled the London criminal underworld in the 60s. Reggie is the savvy businessman while institutionalized Ronnie is the unhinged, unpredictable loose cannon. After threatening a psychiatrist into declaring Ronnie sane, the pair rise through the ranks, running protection rackets and buying up nightclubs. Reggie falls in love with Frances Shea (Browning) who eventually marries him, much to the disapproval of her mother (Tara Fitzgerald). In the meantime, Ronnie openly pursues a relationship with Teddy (Egerton). The twins become business associates of Philadelphia crime family don Angelo Bruno (Palminteri) and are pursued by Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Leonard “Nipper” Read (Eccleston), intent on putting an end to their reign of terror. 

Legend is based on John Pearson’s biography The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins. The twins were the subject of the 1990 biopic The Krays as well as the straight-to-DVD 2015 film The Rise of the Krays, the latter apparently made to ride the coattails of this film. Writer-director Brian Helgeland earned his crime movie bona fides with 1997’s Oscar-winning L.A. Confidential and the Kray twins’ colourful history and trail of violence makes them attractive true crime biopic subjects. While Legend is a superb showcase for its star, it falls short in almost all other departments. Like many period gangster movies, Legend all too frequently invokes the classics of the genre while feeling like a mere echo. Its portrayal of 60s London is at once stylish and slightly artificial, Helgeland never achieving the authenticity he strives for. 

The film falls into a pattern of Ronnie doing something despicable and outrageous with Reggie cleaning up after him, the twins often coming into conflict with each other and those around them. It’s odd: even though the film spends a lot of time with its central characters, it doesn’t dig very deep into the psychology of the twins and by its conclusion, we only actually understand very little about them. It is eventful, but sometimes difficult to follow, everything tied together with a voiceover by Browning’s Frances. The voiceover is often heavy-handed and there are some clumsy attempts at breaking the fourth wall. In the end, it feels like the main purpose this voiceover serves is to give Frances some semblance of agency, since for most of the film, she is just there, just “the wife”.

Hardy has emerged as an A-lister who can headline big-budget blockbusters and prestige dramas with equal ease, and his dual role here is plenty impressive. Of course it’s gimmicky, but it’s a gimmick that works. With the help of body double Jacob Tomuri (who was Hardy’s stunt double in Mad Max: Fury Road and the upcoming The Revenant) and some clever visual effects trickery, two distinct versions of the actor co-exist and after a while, the sleight of hand becomes truly seamless. When Ronnie and Reggie come to blows during an especially heated argument, the fight is spectacularly convincing. Affecting an East End dialect, Hardy is able to play both twins as distinct characters, the end result far less stilted than when Armie Hammer’s head was duplicated and pasted onto Josh Pence’s body to play the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network. Reggie is the tortured antihero and Ronnie is the wild-eyed, mal-adjusted psychopath. In very loose terms, Reggie is the “good” twin, though that is of course relative. 

The afore-mentioned Browning looks gorgeous, appropriately retro-chic in a selection of 60s ensembles, but is given little to do beyond fretting over her husband’s illegal activities. Christopher Eccleston huffs and puffs as the cop on the Krays’ case, but Helgeland doesn’t seem too interest in the cat-and-mouse cops vs. criminals aspect of the story. Egerton, having made a splash in Kingsman: The Secret Service earlier this year, is also underused as Ron’s boy toy. Paul Bettany pops up very briefly as rival gangster Charlie Richardson. The British character actors who make up the Krays’ criminal posse come off as sufficiently tough and unsavoury, with Palminteri adding a touch of American mob movie cred. 

Given how Legend has been positioned as an awards contender, the film ends up surprisingly superficial. Even more so than other gangster films, it revolves around relationships, given its main characters are twins, but few of those relationships are satisfyingly developed and explored. Slick but formulaic and often unfocused, Legend offers very little real insight into the lives of the fascinating Kray twins. 

Summary: Tom Hardy’s dual role is dynamite stuff, but Legend is hampered by its heightened glossiness and is ultimately too shallow to pass as a gripping biopic. 

RATING: 2.5 out of 5 Stars 

Jedd Jong 

Thor: The Dark World

For F*** Magazine

THOR: THE DARK WORLD

Director: Alan Taylor

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Jaimie Alexander, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Renee Russo, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgård

Genre: Action, Fantasy

Run Time: 112 mins

Opens: 31 October 2013

Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)

   

     The Marvel Cinematic Universe train has been chugging along at a steady pace and with the release of Iron Man 3 earlier this year, Phase II has begun. Now, that film proved divisive, to say the least - it earned an impressive box office take but there was an outcry from fans over some surprise liberties it took with the source material. The thunder meister’s second outing probably will soothe some of those ruffled feathers.

            An ancient evil, the dark elf Malekith the Accursed (Eccelston), has awoken after 5000 years and re-embarks on his mission to send all of the nine realms in existence into utter darkness, using the volatile substance aether. Meanwhile, Loki (Hiddleston) is brought back to Asgard and imprisoned by his father Odin (Hopkins). His mother Frigga (Russo) is understandably saddened by Loki’s actions and Odin is keen for Thor (Hemsworth) to take his rightful place on the throne of Asgard. However, Thor is preoccupied with thoughts of his beloved Jane Foster (Portman), his father disapproving of his interest in the “meagre human”. When she comes into contact with the aether, Thor brings her back to Asgard in order to find a way to extract the deadly entity. As the convergence of the nine realms nears, Malekith is ever closer to his goal, Thor eventually having to work with his disgraced brother to prevent the destruction the dark elf has planned.

            

           It is worth noting that Thor: The Dark World has a different creative team from the first film – different writers, editors, a different costume designer, director of cinematography, production designer and a different director. Taking over from Kenneth Branagh is Alan Taylor, best known for his work directing episodes of Game of Thrones. Patty Jenkins was set to direct the film before leaving the project and it seems Taylor didn’t have the best time working as a part of the big Marvel machine. Still, he has delivered a solid film, drawing on his experience with the fantasy genre. The film is slightly more serious and heavy than its predecessor, but it is justifiably so and the drama of it all is punctuated with well-judged moments of humour, including the obligatory Stan Lee cameo.

            It has been said that sequels are all about the villains; that after establishing the characters and the world is out of the way, the spotlight can shift to a truly spectacular bad guy. Think Heath Ledger’s Joker or Benedict Cumberbatch’s recent turn as “John Harrison”. Well, that’s not the case here. Malekith is a two-dimensional foe whose ultimate goal is as straightforward as they come. He is threatening but never truly compelling – however, this isn’t a bad thing. It seems that the filmmakers’ intention was not to have an antagonist come and steal the show, but to further the dynamic between Thor and Loki against the backdrop of a new threat, a decision that pays off.

 

            Tom Hiddleston has gained recognition, acclaim and much fan love (all of tumblr squeals in delight at the mere mention of his name) for his portrayal of Loki, the god of mischief and Thor’s adoptive brother. After being the main antagonist in both Thor and The Avengers, Hiddleston gets to visit the role a third time – which, if one thinks about it, is a rare privilege for an actor playing a “baddie”. Loki is a figure who is sympathetic in addition to being duplicitous and sometimes nasty, but what really works in this film is the angle of the character as a trickster being played up, that the audience is never sure where he’s headed with whatever he’s doing and whether it is a fatal error or an unexpected boon when Thor has to rely on him.

            It’s evident by the above paragraph that Hiddleston steals the show and there was never any doubt as to whether he would, but the rest of the cast, many returning from the first Thor film, is good as well. Chris Hemsworth has truly settled into Thor’s boots, putting that famous godlike physique on display again. This a Thor who’s less of a fish out of water than in the first film, though he still gets a couple of such moments. Natalie Portman is a talented actress but, as was the case with the first film, doesn’t get a whole lot to do as the love interest. It is nice that Jane gets to visit Asgard and see her big ole boyfriend in his natural habitat. We spend less time on earth, which is good, and Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgård and newcomer Jonathan Howard are efficient comic relief elements while moving the plot forwards.

            Mads Mikkelsen was initially cast as Malekith, but had to drop out due to commitments to his TV show Hannibal. Christopher Eccleston is a fine replacement, covered in prosthetic makeup and doing a lot of scowling. The Warriors Three – well, two, since Hogun (Asano) isn’t in most of this – along with Lady Sif (Alexander) and Heimdall (Elba) do get their chances to shine. This reviewer was particularly entertained by Zachary Levi, nigh unrecognisable with that blonde ‘do, as Fandral the Dashing, replacing Josh Dallas from the first film. There’s also a bit more of Anthony Hopkins and Renee Russo, though Hopkins does seem a little bored at times.

            “Dark” is a word that is getting overused in movie titles and subtitles, but though Thor: The Dark World has its downer moments it doesn’t try to be unnecessarily grim and gritty. The film does focus on character relationships and development and isn’t stuffed to the brim with hyperactive action beats and too much large-scale destruction. It does lapse into “conventional fantasy flick” mode with its use of tried and true genre elements but still feels like it fits into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans of the character will welcome being thunderstruck once more. And yes, stay during the end credits for two stinger scenes.

SUMMARY: Thor: The Dark World isn’t as upbeat as the first go-round but it does satisfyingly expand on the relationship between Thor and Loki, as well as doling out the requisite fantasy-action spectacle.

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong