Review of Legend (2015) by Jasrick J — 04 Dec 2015

I didn't know much about the Cray brothers Reggie and Ron before watching Legend, and even after watching the film I kind of feel I still don't know too much about them. Though the film was a biopic of sorts of the twin gangster brothers, who ruled London in the 1960s, the film was very confused in its plot. Like was Legend a gangster flick or a love story? The trailer of the film in my opinion doesn't portray the film properly, because people like me going into theatres to watch a film on the 1960s London mafia and except a decent amount of action thrill etc in the film will come out a bit underwhelmed. However this real life inspired film did still have alot of great moments, mostly thanks to Tom Hardy's career best act, but the film also had faults, but more on that later.

Story wise suave,charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.

Acting wise Tom Hardy puts his heart in the double role of Cray brothers Reggie and Ronnie. As Ronnie he plays the very complex schizophrenic cray brother who is completely out of control, and in this role Hardy shows great histrionics. As Reggie Hardy plays more of sober, and straightforward gangster who has more brains, and also dabbles in a love life. Hardy must be applauded for making both characters so different, and when both brothers are together on screen you can't tell there both the same actor. And that tells you the greatness of his act.Don't be surprised if Hardy gets a Oscar nominee or even wins best actor, he was that good, its his career best act.

The biggest problem in Legend was the muddled,story and screenplay. For example we are not given any backstory of how these brothers became gangsters, how they came up in the ranks, we are just shown them already being made men who just rise higher. The plot also gives Reggie's love story too much importance, half the film almost deals with his love story, and though some of those scenes are good, it takes away from being a gangster biopic. The Director seemed like he was confused which genre he wanted to portray more. The films pace was also snail like, and by the end of the film it feels like this 2hr film was more like 3 hrs long. However the film does have Tom Hardy to make up for alot of the films flaws, he delivers a superb, electrifying act, and whenever his character Ronnie is onscreen he makes every scene light up with his literally crazy antics.Watch out for the scene when Ronnie admits he is gay, and the scene were he hammers people to pulp in the bar fight scene these scenes are extremely entertaining. As Reggie his pre climax scene when he stabs a man to death is a highlight. The films clothing's,the cars, the sets, etc were all pitch perfect. The production values were top notch. The films background score was the best I heard for any hollywood film this year. The film dialogues deserve applause, they were really fiery and impactful.The films action was okay. There are a couple of gory scenes, but thats standard in a movie about gangsters.

Overall if your a fan of Tom Hardy, or if your intrigued by the Cray brothers story you can give Legend a watch, its a decent film about the London mafia in the 1960s, but there is alot still left to be desired in this story. For many they could wait for the film to release on dvd.

3/5* or 6/10.