[Movie Review] Legend (2015)
Director: Brian Helgeland
Writers: Brian Helgeland, John Pearson (book)
Runtime: 131 min
Main Cast:
- Tom Hardy as Ronald Kray / Reggie Kray
- Colin Morgan as Frank Shea
- Christopher Eccleston as Nipper Read
- Emily Browning as Frances Shea
- Joshua Hill as Constable Scott
Review: by Mia
Tom Hardy is an impressive challenger of his own skills. I was happy to see him back in a British role embodying two dominating personalities. They could very well have cast two actors, but Hardy takes on the lives of both Krays and promises to do so well. I anticipated seeing how he played off himself as an actor.
I was also anticipating how the film planned to handle Tom Hardy in scene with Tom Hardy. I really didn’t want The Parent Trap conventional twin on screen techniques. I wanted to believe that there are two of him in every shared scene.
Unfamiliar with the full story of the Krays, I also evicted this movie to stand alone and provide any info I might need on their background. The story begins well into the adult life of the twin Kray brothers, narrated by Francis Kray, the wife of Reggie Kray. We meet the brothers right as they go from well known thugs in London to infamous gangsters in charge of London. The brothers, both played by Tom Hardy, are two sides of the same ruthless coin. Reggie Kray is the business minded brother, mixing brute technique and intimidation with investing and public relations. Ron Kray is the more straight forward, act before he thinks, and ask no questions later of the two. Both are fueled by ambition and natural intellect, but the unstable state of Ron’s mind makes him the volatile catalyst towards disaster every step up on the ladder that they take.
Francis, our narrator, is the only semblance of normality in Reggie’s life beyond their clueless and doting Kray mother. She is hopelessly in love with Reggie from the start and the film follows their struggle to remain in love despite the Kray dedication to criminal life. The brothers spiral towards their ends amongst rivalry, insanity, brutality, and internal struggles. Hardy does well creating a distinction between the two characters, which is assisted by the minor aesthetic differences that clearly points to Reggie as the more handsome and suave of the two. Still, both brothers have a charm and humanity to them that makes you dread the inevitable end to their story.
Summary
Most of the shared scenes used conventional twin film techniques which didn’t disappoint but also didn’t meet expectation. The film was compelling and versatile. It crafted the 60s in an interesting way and the acting of major and minor characters was worth praise. Hardy accomplished the task of playing not one but two intense and complex characters. However, I feel there was more to be shown regarding the internal conflict within both brothers. No one can say for sure how the real Krays felt throughout these life experiences shown, but I felt the film could have gone a little further interpreting what might’ve been going on, internally, during each action/experience of a brother. The end accomplished this most, but wrapped up too quickly to be truly appreciated
User Review
( votes)Images Courtesy of IMDB
