Legend (2015) - Film Review

Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, David Thewlis & Christopher Eccleston

Screenplay: Brian Helgeland

Directed By: Brian Helgeland

Certificate: 18

 

2015 has been quite an impressive year for Tom Hardy. Already known for his appearance in The Dark Knight Rises, 2015 has seen him in lead or supporting roles for critically acclaimed films such as Mad Max: Fury Road and the upcoming The Revenant. He has now become an actor in high demand, and it only makes sense for filmmakers to want to make the most out of him. No-one has achieved that like Legend, a film coming from the Academy Award winning Brian Helgeland, and that doesn't just see Tom Hardy in one role, but two, and both at the same time...

 

Legend tells the real-life story of the gangster twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray, who together aimed to control London during the 1960s. Reggie is the charismatic and level-headed one out of the two, whereas Ronnie is psychologically disturbed and unstable. While evading the efforts of the police to bring them to justice, the two rule through intimidation and aren't prepared to hesitate at using violence to get what they want. However, things become complicated for Reggie when he falls in love with Frances Shea, and becomes torn between leaving the criminal underworld and living the gangster lifestyle he and his brother love.

 

Obviously the main hook of Legend is Tom Hardy's role as both Reggie and Ronnie Kray, and quite rightly as it turns out to be the film's greatest strength. If nothing else, Legend is a showcase for Tom Hardy's skill as an actor and the chemistry he somehow manages to share with himself is flawless. While he is great as the more charming and romanticized Reggie, it's with Ronnie that he really shines. He sells everything from the physicality and facial expressions, to the dialogue and mumbled pronunciation, all the while delivering some of the film's funniest and most memorable lines. Meanwhile, the actual technical aspect of having both Kray Twins on screen at once, and being portrayed by the same actor, is achieved remarkably well, and as the film goes on, you gradually forget that its Tom Hardy in both roles and start to see them as individual people. The film hinges and depends on this dual performance, and it's worth watching just to see how well it finishes up on screen.

 

Something I really didn't expect with Legend was just how well it was able to work in multiple genres. At its heart it's a drama, biopic and a gangster film, but not one that sets out to purely show how terrible the Krays' actions were. If you haven't gathered from the title, there's a clear sense of admiration from the filmmakers towards the Krays, and at times it's hard not to like them. This can be seen from the fact that Legend evens works as a comedy from time to time, especially when it comes to Ronnie Kray. At one point, Reggie and Ronnie are about to find themselves in a bar fight, when Ronnie announces his disappointment as he came looking for a shootout, or as he calls it: “a f***ing shootout, a proper shootout, with some proper men”. It's a great scene and as far as I'm concerned, the way it plays out makes it one of the funniest film scenes I've seen so far this year. Speaking of bar fights, I should point out that Legend certainly earns its 18 Certificate. The language is strong, as should be expected, and the violence, while infrequent, is brutal and makes explicit use of objects such as hammers or broken bottles.

 

With so many positives like this to be found, it makes it such a shame that outside of Tom Hardy's great dual performance, there's not a lot more for anyone else to do in the film, despite the fact that there is great talent among the supporting cast with names such as Taron Egerton and Colin Morgan. There's a large portion of time dedicated to showing Reggie's relationship with his first wife Frances, but unlike Reggie, Frances feels hollow as a character, something that Ronnie even points out. There's nothing to her and although the two share chemistry, I never fully believed the relationship. David Thewlis also makes an appearance as the Krays' business manager Leslie Payne, but take away all his efforts at managing the Krays' business ventures and you've got another empty character. Someone who definitely feels as though they should've had more development is the detective in charge of taking down the Krays, “Nipper” Read, as played by Christopher Eccleston. Read shows up in the opening ten minutes (admittedly a very good opening), before disappearing for the next hour. He shows up again for another ten minutes, but is then gone about as quickly as he came.

 

Legend doesn't set out to tell the entire life story of the Krays, but rather their rise and downfall. For the most part, this is done quite well and it's clear just why the two fell from their previously untouchable position. However, Reggie's downfall and the breakdown in his relationship with Frances is completely mishandled. It happens very quickly, with very little build-up, and his entire character seems to take an off-screen turn. (Spoiler Warning!) One minute he's fine, then the next he's acting horribly and completely out of character even by his standards, even going as far as raping his wife.

 

Legend may be flawed as a film in general, but as a biopic and violent crime/gangster film, it certainly does the job. It has the looks nailed and captures the atmosphere of 60s London perfectly, complete with loads of men in suits, casinos, clubs and smoke-filled pubs and bars. There's great attention to detail throughout, showing some great use of location shooting as well as set design. Add to this confident and sometimes ambitious camerawork and direction, and Legend is a great-looking film. Some of Legend's best moments from a technical point of view come through long takes and walking tours, such as Reggie's walk through the East End streets at the beginning of the film. Even our introduction to the club that the twins own is done in an impressive single and uninterrupted take that lasts about five minutes.

 

Without the gimmick of having two characters played by the same actor, Legend would be an OK film, but it's this same gimmick that elevates into a good, solid and enjoyable slice of gangster cinema. On paper, Legend wouldn't impress as much and its supporting cast does let it down, but through strong production values, occasionally humorous dialogue and an astounding dual performance from Tom Hardy, it turns out much better than it could have done.

Legend
 

7/10