Michael (Paul Bettany – Wimbledon) an angel in God’s army has defied his wishes and fallen to earth. It seems that Heaven has grown weary of mankind’s self-destruction and orders the eradication of the human race. Michael refuses to give up on humankind and vows to protect them until a saviour is born. That saviour is the unborn child of Charlie (Adrianne Palicki – Supernatural), an unsuspecting waitress working in a diner in the middle of the desert. Michael must locate and protect Charlie and the inhabitants of the diner – including disillusioned owner Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid – Vantage Point) and his son Jeep (Lucas Black – The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift) before the forces of destruction find them and start the end of days.
Legion has an interesting premise but a distinct lack of direction sees to it that the movie falters towards the end. It starts off very well with enough gunplay and action to keep people amused but when the film moves into melodrama, you quickly lose interest and wonder where the story is going.
The main set-back is that the plot really doesn’t make much sense. If God wanted to eradicate the human race I’m sure he could come up with a far more productive way of doing it. Getting angels to possess humans just seems like a huge waste of time. No effort is given to flesh out the storyline of saving the unborn baby either. We are told that the unborn is a pivotal for humankind to earn a stay of execution. But why? What/who is this child meant to be? What is his purpose and why do the angels not want humankind to save themselves? These questions are left begging and some clarity could have helped the battles gain a greater degree of weight and meaning. The notion of protecting the potential saviour of mankind feels all too familiar too and you’ll definitely see parallels to The Terminator especially towards the end of this film.
Paul Bettany does well as Michael and he more than handles the physical demands of the character. Lucas Black and Tyrese Gibson also handle their respective roles competently. Sadly the script gives everyone else a really hard time with some clichéd dialogue and underwritten parts… the guiltiest party here being Dennis Quaid as the washed up owner of the diner. But hidden amongst the bad dialogue is the odd (intentional) comedy moment which does help the film flow. Adrianne Palicki doesn’t have to do much here other than look bemused and slightly confused and Willa Holland does what she can as the token eye candy but it’s a woefully thin role to play with.
The effects are top notch and at times border on superb. The design of the angels is impressive from their bulletproof wings down to their deadly sceptres. The crawling grandmother will have you laughing and squirming in equal measure (again I think it’s intentional) and the creepy elongated ice-cream man provides the film’s most unsettling image as he makes his way to the diner on all-fours like a spider. I would have liked to see more of this character just because he was so freaky. There were some genuine plot-twists I didn’t see coming and there are enough jumpy moments to make the horror side of things tick over nicely.
Legion is a curious film. The fight scenes are quite impressive but they always leave you wanting more. In fact that could be levelled to the whole film - you just want to be given a bit more info, a bit more action and ultimately a bit more of a resolution. Legion is a decent way to spend 100mins and with Bettany on fine form, this is an action-horror that will keep your attention. It’s just a shame that after the dust settles you will still feel a bit unsatisfied.
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