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[Legion]
Plot:Concerns a group of strangers stranded at a desert truckstop who must band together to stop an army of demonic creatures who are out to fulfill an ancient prophecy that opens the gates of hell.
Cast:Paul Bettany,
Dennis Quaid,
Tyrese Gibson,
Jon Tenney,
Charles S. Dutton,
Lucas Black,
Kate Walsh,
Adrianne Palicki,
Kevin Durand,
Willa Holland,
Doug Jones.
My Thoughts:The battle between good and evil always seems to take place in the middle of nowhere.
Review:Why is that though? Take a look at "Tales From The Crypt:Demon Knight", and various other horror films. Whenever there's a battle between good and evil a brew'n, it always seems to take place in the middle of nowhere. Like a boarding house, on in the case of Scott Stewart's "Legion", a run-down-looking diner in the badlands of Arizona. The film follows a girl named Charlie (Palicki), who is pregnant with a baby. But it's not just any baby. This particular baby is supposed to be the tipping of the scales when it comes to the battle between good and evil.
After the films opening scenes, which mirror the opening scene of every "Terminator" movie ever made, when the angel Michael arrives to earth via blowing a hole in time and space, the pic jumps to the diner and Charlie's dilemma. She really didn't want the baby at first, but now she does. And so does someone else, a legion of demons who work for the angel opposite Michael, Gabriel. These demons though are pretty clever. Unlike in most horror movies, where the demons storm a place as a group and go on the attack, these demons send in some feelers first. Un the guise of possessed people.
The first of the possessed being the little old lady Gladice, seen in every one of the films trailers. Gladice looks harmless enough, just a little old lady with a walker. But it soon turns out that she's up to no good. This coming after a group of newcomers have entered the diner, in Kyle Williams (Tyrese), and a couple and their daughter. Once Gladice goes on the rampage, the film goes into "holed up horror" mode, where a group of diverse people, who don't really get along with each other too well, due to conflicting personalities...have to hunker down inside one place due to the major threat which lies on the outside.
Because it seems that along with her, Gladice has brought a nasty-looking dark plague-like cloud, which is rapidly approaching the diner. Once the angel Michael (Bettany) shows up, he lays down to the group what they're dealing with here, and why he is there, and who he's there to protect. After such an intense opening 15 or 20 minutes, you'd think "Legion" would kick into high gear right? Well, not exactly. The movie kind of slows down after the initial gunfight occurs, which is the first and for the most part, only gunfight we see in this film.
I dunno if it was because most of the budget was spent elsewhere or not, but this movie really should've kept the intensity going, which is something it didn't do. I expected a movie where the bad guys were coming fast and hard, and had to be blown out of their socks to keep them at bay. And yes, that does happen, for about 5 minutes. It seems that once angel Michael opens up a can of whoop ass with a pair of large guns, which he sues to blow away the invading legion of demons, the demons kind of just give up, and let the people inside air out their dirty laundry.
You know, in the case of Tyreses character, why he carries a gun, and in the case of the couple and their daughter, the mother who hates her child and blames the entire situation on her. And then there's Charlie, who has her own sad story, and that guy who in movies like this...always seems to be the rock for the whiny pity-me-girl to lean on. In this films case, the dudes name is Jeep Hanson (Black). And before you ask the question, "Who in the hell names their kid Jeep?", just remember this film is set in middle america.
Plenty of worse names have come out of flyover country. At any rate, with a film who's cast includes Charles S. Dutton and Dennis Quaid, you'd think it would be more performance driven. But not so. The movie relegates Quaid to the angry old white guy, and relegates Dutton to the angry old black guy. And everyone in between just wants to get the fuck out of the diner before the demons come crashing through the doors. Which they never do, again...the films biggest problem. The movie is called "Legion", as in a legion of demons on the attack.
And most legions don't give up after the first wave. In this films case, they do. They sell out attacking, for playing mind games with the people inside, luring them outside, and then killing them. Where haven't we seen that before eh? However, "Legion"...for all it's problems, does make it's legion of demons entertaining. The old lady who climbs the walls, and the ice cream man being the two standout do-badders. And the movies gunfight scenes, explosions, and the like are very high-impact. When this film puts it's foot on the pedal and goes high speed, it really brings it's A game.
The problem is, it doesn't do that often enough. It gets riled up at inopportune times, and just as you settle into the action, it dies down before you can even enjoy it. The movies finale doesn't offer up a lot of entertainment value either, but does hold some great visuals with the legion of demons outside the diner as a creepy mist surrounds them in the midst of a thunderstorm, signaling Gabriel is about to make his entrance.
Beyond said visuals, the pictures ending is not very high-impact, and gets sloppy with the death and then 5-minutes-later...return of a main character. "Legion" gives a good try at doing something different, but between the wasted performances of some talented actors, and the quick bursts of high-octane action, that last about as long as a bottle cap filled with water, it falters more than it rises.
Positives:Very well directed movie, brings some great visuals. The action scenes, although extremely short, are still well done. The legion of demons, mostly Gladice and the ice cream man, were funny, creepy, and entertaining.
Negatives:Action sequences were too short, too many cliche characters, too many characters without common sense, and the finale wasn't very strong.
Overall:Two stars out of four.
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