Legend

The second of the big screen retellings of the Kray storyline, following on from 1990's THE KRAYS which starred real-life brothers Martin and Gary Kemp as the terrible twosome. While I enjoyed LEGEND on a superficial level, I found it an oddly hollow viewing experience and not as good as the previous version. The problem lies with the direction, which is oddly inexperienced for a long-time director like Brian Helgeland.

The issues with LEGEND are entirely down to tone, and the tone just isn't right. The setting-up scenes are fine, the transition scenes are fine, and the film is well-shot throughout with an excellent eye for realism and a decent budget. What a shame, then, that all of the pivotal scenes are so oddly staged in a semi-humorous tone. It feels like Helgeland wanted to make the story a comedy, which is the last thing it could be.

This jokey approach to the material manifests itself in the violent moments, which are rather incredibly played for laughs whereas really the raw power of the incidents should have come out. It's present in Tom Hardy's dual role; the special effects are excellent (and have come a long way since Van Damme played twins in DOUBLE IMPACT) but Ronnie Kray is nothing more than a caricature here, a weirdo played for maximum relish by the off-beat actor.

LEGEND also messes up some of the source material, which is a little odd. I've read Reggie's autobiography so have some experience with the facts. For some reason this film plays down the pivotal relationship between the Krays and their mother; the latter only appears in a couple of scenes. In contrast, it bigs up the role Frances Shea played in the story, giving her way too much screen time at the expense of others. Thus at times LEGEND feels like a romance rather than the gangster epic it should be. It's certainly not a bad film, but is it something I'd watch again? Not really - I'd prefer going back to THE KRAYS.

Legend is a gripping movie, there's no doubt about it. Seeing Tom Hardy on screen, whether he's playing Reggie, Ronald, or both, is absolutely captivating. He owns the roles, and despite their identical looks you feel that they're completely different people because of how well Hardy portrays them. Reggie is sophisticated, methodical, affable; Ronnie is impulsive, unpredictable, paranoid. As a vehicle for Tom Hardy's acting chops, Legend is a home run. Unfortunately, that is where the positives of the movie end.

The movie is tonally confused from scene to scene. It can be romantic one minute, ultra-violent the next, then reserved and introspective the minute after that. It's clunky writing; every time the movie begins to gain momentum it trips on itself one way or another. Also, you really don't care about any character other than the twins. I mean, thankfully they're in just about every scene, but they're always surrounded by faceless goons, or with a generic love interest, or no-name cops - not fully fleshed out characters. This is in no way a fault of the actors though. Christopher Eccleston is wasted yet again as a villain after Thor: The Dark World. Here he's in an antihero role as the cop assigned to the Kray's case, but his lines lack any form of personality. He does what he can but he really has nothing to work with. Chazz Palminteri makes an appearance for about 5 minutes total as his usual gangster self, but in the end you're left scratching your head. So many characters, so much potential, but the only thing holding the movie together is Tom Hardy.

So as you can infer, Legend is worth a watch if you're a Tom Hardy fan. He's scarily good in these roles, and two Tom Hardys are better than one. For that reason alone I can't give this movie a lower score. However, if you're looking for substance in a gangster biopic, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Tom Hardy gives an all time great performance, double acting as both the notorious Kray twins. The story is also quite comedic, clever and full of some great thrilling scenes. One of the great things about this film is you know what you're going to get, and it delivers, then some. It's bloody on top of witty, charming and fun. Legend serves up one of the great films of the year, whilst also being quite modest in its approach.

With Tom Hardy's already established terrific acting skills, Legend becomes something more then a typical gangster crime film. It feels invested into making the viewer content with its two hour runtime, whilst always respecting. The award for best actor goes to… Tom Hardy, for sure.

The original film about the subject "The Krays" (1990) had Billie Whitelaw as their mother and, somehow, she dominated my memory of the film. Here the twins have a mother but she is, on the film, a distant character and that's what I missed here. I missed their interaction. She clearly had a massive influence in their characters but in Legend, those pieces of the puzzle are unfortunately missing. But, Tom Hardy compensates for any flaws. He is extraordinary, twice. The twins are total individuals, totally two people. What they carry in common is a sort of sexual danger, one explicitly the other implicitly but both as powerful. They dare us to get close. Amazing performance(s)

I was really looking forward to this one; the trailers were great and, whilst I'm not one of those who glamourise the Krays (they loved their mums, would do anything for you blah blah blah), I do find it bizarrely fascinating how the Krays/Richardsons have passed into London folklore. Alas, it's a bit of a let down. Hardy throws himself into both roles, by turns amusing and scary as Ronnie and compelling as a Reggie trying to build an empire while struggling to keep his brother in check. But he is let down by a clunky structure, it takes a while to get going and subplots and characters are introduced and then discarded on a whim, an awful Frances Kray voice-over, and an uneven script which can't quite decide if it wants to be an American style gangster flick or tread the same path as The Long Good Friday, Get Carter et al. And who let Duffy and her nails down a blackboard voice back in? I really hoped we'd seen the last of her after that crap Diet Coke ad. The club scenes aren't quite working guys. I know, let's get Duffy, stuck a wig on her and she can caterwaul her way through some 60s classics. High five!!!