Apocalypse movies are ten-a-penny nowadays, with disaster films such as Roland Emmerich’s 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, or Independence Day, all explaining various ways in which life as we know it may cease, and post-apocalyptic films such as The Postman, The Road, or Carriers, showing what may happen in the aftermath, but one of this year’s biggest apocalypse films (Legion) begs a new question; what if God himself were to become so angry that he personally ordered the apocalypse, and that life on Earth was not going to be altered and severely battered, but utterly exterminated?
Legion begins with a voiceover roughly explaining this (not by listing any one of the thousands of things that man may have done to offend God, but simply stating that our creator “grew tired of all the bullshit”), before cutting to a small Texas diner on a fairly quiet backroad; the diner where the final battle for humanity will eventually be decided.
We are then given a short amount of time to get to know the characters that will play a role in the war; Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid, Dragonheart), the surly diner owner who’s constantly miserable, the small-town slut/waitress who’s nine months pregnant and itchy to give her baby up for adoption (Adrianne Palicki, Friday Night Lights), Jeep Hanson (Lucas Black, American Gothic), the owner’s son who’s far too nice, and spends his life pining after the waitress, and the burly yet sentimental cook who seems far too wise to be living and working there (Charles S. Dutton, House MD).
There’s also a small family who are stuck at the diner waiting for their car to be fixed, a street wise black guy on a cross country road-trip (Tyrese Gibson, Transformers), and most importantly of all, they are later joined by a machine-gun wielding ex-angel named Michael (Paul Bettany, A Knight’s Tale), who’s there to help them fight, and plans on battling the forces of God just long enough to save the human race.
But things start getting a little weird even before Michael turns up; as the group (who are blissfully unaware of their impending doom) have to deal with a crazed old woman damning the waitresses baby and attacking the diner’s patrons, as well as a giant cloud of bugs approaching, and the TV, radio, and phones, all shutting down; but when he gets there they quickly have to plan for the worst; as he explains that literally thousands of people possessed by warriors of God will be heading their way with the express purpose of killing them, before angels will likely descend and do the same, and that the only hope for humanity’s survival is to hold off the onslaught of the horde long enough for the waitress to have her baby.
It’s then a basic siege movie, where the group fortifies the diner and attempts to hold out as long as possible during the various waves of God’s onslaught (because apparently being the creator of man, the Earth, and the entire Universe doesn’t necessarily mean that God could just will us out of existence, but that he would have convince several New Mexico residents to finish the job if he were to succeed), and where, like in any other siege film, certain characters are bound to make stupid mistakes putting the lives of themselves and everyone else in danger; tensions run high, and less consequential characters begin to get picked off one by one.
The action itself comes pretty thick and fast, and flows really well; being violent, at times shocking, and always rather crazed, whilst being aided by some very smooth looking special effects; that work because even though it’s blatantly obvious that massive amounts of CGI special effects have been used in a number of places, they still look very good, and are appropriate for the mood of the film (as no-one has ever seen a pensioner crawling across the ceiling, or an army of possessed people, in real life and can’t really accurately say how it would actually look).
But it’s difficult to tell exactly what overall mood Legion aims for; because some parts of the film are very dark and serious, some are all about the action, and others seem like an all-out Scary Movie style comedy (as the performances, action, and effects combine to create something that is extremely comical), but it’s difficult to tell if the comedy is intentional, or just a byproduct of certain sequences (Legion’s official listing as a fantasy/horror movie suggests the latter); and as a result it doesn’t flow especially well.
The flow is also hampered by the film’s plot, which is which is rather disjointed, and appears to have half of it missing, as aside from the characters blindly accepting what Michael says, and obey with barely a whiff of proof, they simply state that all hope of humanity’s survival rests on the waitress having her baby, and there is no real reason given; why her baby? why her? and how exactly is a newborn going to stop an army of murderous angels?; there’s also no real explanation as to why God’s finally decided enough is enough and begun his extermination (growing “tired of all the bullshit” just doesn’t really cut it as a reason, and while there’s a one line piece of dialogue that suggests it’s something that man has been doing for a while, it’s quickly dropped, and the moral abandoned liked a used Kleenex).
The characters are also just retreads of ones that have been seen in dozens of movies before, and while there’s a decent enough cast used to portray them (Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid being the main stars), they still lack enough flesh to be utterly convincing, and as a result are very predictable, very wooden, and very dull.
Paul Bettany delivers a fairly average performance that successfully gets his character through the movie, but is far from his best work (he was much better in A Knight’s Tale, Master and Commander: The Far side of the World, and A Beautiful Mind), and likewise Dennis Quaid delivers a a performance that is well above what Legion deserves but nowhere near his best (and it’s actually a shame to see that his career has sunk to the depths it has), while the other actors give adequate showings that aren’t standout performances, but easily suitable for the film.
In the end Legion is a decent idea (ex-angel battling against those he once stood beside, in order to help the common man) with little in the way of meaningful payoff; the plot is non-existent, the actings average, and while the action is OK, it certainly isn’t The Expendables, or even 30 Days of Night; it’s also highly likely to offend anyone who has a strong belief in God; as a single angel is not only presented as more powerful than God’s entire army of Angels, and a world full of possessed people, but is actually proven to be wiser than God, and knows what is better for him, and the population of Earth, than he does himself (despite the fact that all who believe know God to be utterly infallible); a strange thing considering that the film asks you adopt a belief of God, and then throws away some of main ideas that belief entails, and as such is only going to be adored by people who like their films to be low on story, and high on mediocre action.
Picture:
One thing that isn’t mediocre however is legion’s presentation; as it’s full 1080p transfer transports the film to Blu-ray with excellent contrast, strong and vibrant colours, and blacks that are almost as good as they can be, remaining impressively deep and inky with only extremely limited bleed, and a very high level of detail.
Close-ups reveal the most obvious detail (and lifelike textures), but the same level is also present in the pictures numerous long-shots; as wrinkles, sand, and just about everything is picked up and represented exquisitely; as are the fleshtones, which always appear accurate and lifelike, only shifting depending on the surrounding light (seeming slightly yellower in the bright and dusty filter that covers the outdoors shots near the beginning of the movie).
There are a few softer looking shots that pop up during the film, but they, like the minor banding problems, are extremely rare, and as there are no other transfer issues or print errors, no dirt of scratches evident, and only an appropriately consistent and moderate level of grain visible throughout, this is a transfer that doesn’t do a brilliant job of representing it’s source, and bringing the movie to Blu-ray; meaning that no fan of Legion should have cause for disappointment.
Audio:
Coming by way of a 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix, the soundtrack for Legion is technically solid but still has its problems; the principal one being an issue of leveling that produces too much bass, and requires a steady hand to be kept on the remote at all times in order to adjust the volume for the overly loud action scenes, and dialogue scenes that are much too quiet by comparison.
However, with the bass level turned down, and a volume level reached where both the action and dialogue scenes are tolerable, Legion’s soundtrack is an exceptionally strong one that creates a consistently immersive experience by fully utilizing the soundstage, and keeping all channels filled with appropriate, and ultra-realistic, sounding atmospherics, as well as suitably powerful, shocking, and chaotic, effects used during the many action sequences; which also feature seamless pans, pinpoint clarity, and thankfully never overshadow the film’s dialogue; which, provided the volume is set correctly, is always well placed, clear, and intelligible.
Had it not been for the leveling issue, Legion may have been close to a perfect audio experience, however, it is by no means a bad transfer, and aside from the volume problem, it sounds fantastic; meaning that it’s a still a fairly solid effort overall, and one that will ensure fans who can tinker with their setup, and overlook the leveling, will be more than impressed with the mix.
Extras:
Legion also arrives on Blu-ray with a respectable number of special features that consist of a Picture-in-Picture video commentary; featuring interviews with the majority of the cast and crew, and Legion’s director Scott Stewart (best known for his visual effects work on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, as well as Die Hard 4.0, Sin City, and Blade Runner) intermingled with behind the scenes footage, storyboards, effects breakdowns, and a discussion of the characters, themes, and general construction of the film, that is fairly comprehensive, and manages to include more than most commentaries, yet is never entirely gripping; a standard making of (that actually becomes a little redundant after the video commentary covers all of the included information in a more accessible manner), and a feature that examines the quality of the ensemble cast (a general EPK praising of all involved that is extremely overdone, not entirely warranted, and a waste of an inclusion).
There’s also an examination of the film’s practical and digital effects (that would prove to be enthralling for anyone interested in the technical side of creating effects, and still interesting for those who only have a casual interest in seeing how it all comes together), a fairly dull feature on the construction and design of the movie’s prime location (the diner), and a thorough examination of a single specific stunt, as well as the option to view with movie-IQ, connect to Sony’s BD-Live portal, or watch trailers for 2012, Armored, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, District 9, and Zombieland.
Most of the bonus material is fairly flat and redundant, however there are some features that have been wisely included, and obviously well thought out; the Picture-in-Picture commentary for instance serves the movie much better than a standard audio commentary otherwise would have, and there’s also breakdowns of pretty much everything else (effects, locations, set-design, actors other work), which means that overall this is a fairly well put together collection of features that should be sure to satisfy the fans thirst for more knowledge about the film’s production.
The Bottom Line:
Legion is a fantasy/action/horror movie that takes itself just a little too seriously, and isn’t quite the grippingly awe-inspiring struggle it could have been; as it never really feels like the slack-jawed minions that descend upon the Texas diner carry the full force of God’s wrath, or even that the diner’s are in that much danger.
Viewing it as more of an action/comedy, rather than anything to dark and serious, increases the level of enjoyment it bestows; as some of the dialogue, effects, and situations, are very comical; but doesn’t totally distract from the fact that there’s a serious lack of any coherent plot, and a general disregard of the belief system it requires the viewer to adopt.
The picture quality is extremely good, and the audio is absorbing and engaging, despite suffering from a bit of a leveling issue, and as the special features are also fairly comprehensive and mostly wise inclusions, Legion arrives on Blu-ray via a very solid disc that is not to be sniffed at, and brings the film to the home about as well as any disc could.
Legions effects are action are both good, and the real saving grace of the film; being by far and away the best thing in it; as even the relatively strong cast can’t successfully move the non-existent plot forward, and as a result Legion ends up being a throwaway action flick that’s worth a look, and can be a bit of fun if treated like a comedy rather than the serious epic it attempts to be, but fails to live up to it’s true potential.
It’s worth giving Legion a rent, because despite its flaws this Dawn of the Dead with angels is not a bad film, but isn’t one you’ll be likely to take out again in a hurry, and for a better film with religious connotations you could always watch the thrilling Devil’s Advocate, or Kevin Smith’s hilarious Dogma, or better still, wait a few days and spend the cash on going to see the best action movie that’s been released in years; The Expendables.
