Supernatural action fantasy starring Paul Bettany. Having lost faith in the human race, a vengeful God sends a legion of angels down to Earth to bring about the apocalypse. Humanity's only hope lies with a group of strangers trapped in an out-of-the-way American desert diner and the fallen Archangel Michael (Bettany). Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black and Charles S. Dutton co-star.
| Starring: |
Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palick, Charles S. Dutton, Kevin Durand, Jon Tenney, Willa Holland, Kate Walsh, Dennis Quaid, Jeanette Miller, Cameron Harlow |
| Director: |
Scott Stewart |
| Languages: |
English |
| Distributor: |
|
MyMovies
The name of Scott Stewart's debut feature is eerily apt. For you see, released the week that Hollywood hosts its ...
The name of Scott Stewart's debut feature is eerily apt. For you see, released the week that Hollywood hosts its annual backslapping-fest and dishes out those golden statuettes called Oscar, this apocalyptic-thriller-minus-the-thrills reminds us that utter dross is still numerous and Legion in LA LA Land. Starring Paul Bettany, who should really know better, as archangel Michael, mankind's celestial saviour, Legion sees a narked Lord unleashing the apocalypse upon his mortal creations. Why? He just doesn't give a dressed-up damn anymore and has tired of his ant farm. Michael's not quite on the same wavelength though, he hightails it to the Blue Planet and takes up arms against his colleagues as he's convinced that there's hope for man yet. Said hope comes in the form of an unborn baby whose mum, a trailer park-living waitress, finds herself in the keep of Dennis Quaid and some guy from the Fast And Furious franchise (Lucas Black, just awful here)...so, she really does need all the help she can get. The biblical-sized shame here is that Legion exhibits one or two neat ideas. The creepy-looking, razor-teethed zombies that besiege a remote Nirvana diner offer up an uncanny foe (although why the armour-clad angels feel the need to even-up the fight by possessing frail human bodies is beyond me). One little old lady's rampage offers a slight glimpse of the fun and invention that could have been had here but Stewart goes about filling the rest of Legion with all the wit and sophistication of an X-Factor VT. The script is littered with the worst kind of cliche and delivered with embarrassing conviction by a cast that deserve better. Bettany does himself no favours here but can rest easy with the knowledge that he's much, much better than this. However Legion bodes ill for his next collaboration with Stewart - another sci-fi walkthrough called Priest. One has to hope that this brace, like his winged friends, won't bring Bettany crashing down to Earth.
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Press Association
Forget vampires, werewolves and other denizens of the dark, because it's those winged messengers, the angels, we need to worry ...
Forget vampires, werewolves and other denizens of the dark, because it's those winged messengers, the angels, we need to worry about. Set in an unspecified future when God has dispatched his heralds to slay the entire human race for its myriad sins, Legion is a bloodthirsty thriller about the last stand between the dregs of mankind and these heavenly pursuers in a rundown diner in the desert. Needless to say, it doesn't end happily for the greedy, selfish mortals. Acclaimed visual effects artist Scott Stewart, who worke, d on the Pirates Of The Caribbean films and Iron Man, makes the awkward transition to the director's chair. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Schink, and shows a similar lack of natural talent with words as well as pictures, struggling to generate tension despite a confined setting for much of the action. Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid) runs a diner with his handyman son, Jeep (Lucas Black), who has put his life on hold to make sure his hard-drinking old man doesn't self-destruct. Percy (Charles S Dutton) holds court in the kitchen and pregnant waitress Charlie (Adrianne Palicki) keeps the customers happy, refreshing the coffee of gun-toting father Kyle (Tyrese Gibson) and bickering couple Sandra (Kate Walsh) and Howard (Jon Tenney) and their belligerent teenage daughter, Audrey (Willa Holland). When one of the customers meets a grisly fate, the survivors cry out in vain for help, and fallen angel Michael (Paul Bettany) answers their call, fending off his own kind, including the angel Gabriel (Kevin Durand) to ensure the survival of Charlie's soon-to-be-born son. "I don't believe in God," stutters Bob, caught in the middle of a titanic fight to the death. "Well, God doesn't believe in you," replies Michael, with barely concealed disdain. Legion is a low-rent version of The Terminator with wings, and nods and winks at The Exorcist when a crazy, old lady sinks her false gnashers into one of the patrons, then starts crawling over the diner's ceiling. Perhaps the meat loaf is past its sell-by-date. Stewart's film certainly is. Bettany treats his role with a seriousness that borders on the laughable, as possessed survivors of the Apocalypse surround the diner and prepare to kill Charlie's little angel (ho ho!). There is the occasional, intentional laugh, such as when a small group of survivors jumps into a car and heads for the nearest hospital, only to run into a swarm of flies that seems to attack the vehicle, and Gibson's livewire quips, "You're asking me to explain the behaviour of a pestilence?!" No one questions why Bob and Jeep have completely different accents, while the script plods from one set piece to the next, without anything that might be mistaken for style or pace.
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