Legend

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.

Tom Hardy is a strange fish as an actor. Famous for being almost incomprehensible in "The Dark Night Rises" and almost equally incomprehensible in his co-starring role in "The Revenant", it's sometimes really difficult to get a sense of his true abilities. Here in "Legend" he gets to show what he's made of…. Twice! Hardy plays both roles in the story of Reggie and Ronnie Kray, the infamous gangsters who ruled across large parts of London in the 1960's.

The film tells the story of the rise of the duo, focusing in particular on the wooing by Reggie of Frances (Emily Browning), the local girl who fell in love with and then married the hoodlum. Reggie and Ronnie – whilst both undisputed 'bad uns' – were as different as chalk and cheese. Reggie was all for semi-legitimizing the business, running deals through his socialite-heavy clubs, and gaining higher-level cover by inveigling his way into control of political contacts such as Lord Boothby (a delightfully oily John Sessions).

In contrast, Ronnie was an out-and-out psychopath with a malfunctioning 'off' button and no button at all marked 'self-control'. An open homosexual – something far more shocking in the '60s than it is today – Ronnie was a medicated loose cannon that even Reggie had trouble controlling. Gathering a posse of 'boys' around him (including Kingsman's Taron Egerton) Ronnie blazes a trail of bloody violence against rival gangs with little regard to the consequences.

On the side of the law was Nipper Read ("Dr Who" re-booter Christopher Ecclestone) as the dogged detective trying to find something – anything – to pin on the brothers.

Hardy manages to convey each brothers' idiosyncrasies so well that you quickly forget that this is the same actor playing both roles. It is only in some of the more interactive scenes (such as a fight between the two of them) that the illusion fails apart somewhat and where acting twins would have made for more convincing footage (unfortunately Jedward were unavailable!).

What makes Hardy's performance as Reggie particularly memorable is that for much of the film - and against your better judgment - you end up rooting for Reggie and wishing him to 'succeed'. (This is more by way of comparison against Ronnie's truly abhorrent behavior than against any absolute measure of 'good').

Browning is also compelling as the love-lost Frances, getting deeper and deeper into a world she has no control over and having to act to extremes of both love and fear. Also worthy of mention is the portrayal by David Thewlis (Lupin from the Potter films) of the Kray's financial adviser Leslie Payne: a man who knows he has the financial respect of the twins (at least Reggie) but is always sailing a dangerous course between kowtowing to them and criticizing their actions.

Written and directed by Brian Helgeland ("Payback"), this is an intelligent British thriller, reflecting a visceral view of the criminal underworld of London in the '60's. Overall, its an enjoyable watch that perhaps - Hardy aside - doesn't quite live up to its potential. A note however for the sensitive viewer: this is a very (very) violent film in places, and a couple of the scenes in particular are hard to watch.

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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.

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)

This film tells the story of the rise and fall of the Kray brothers, who ruled the criminal underworld of East London.

I have to say I'm blown away by "Legend". It's not a gangster film where there is senseless violence everywhere. Though there is some violence, it does not take over as the main theme. The story fact concentrates on the interpersonal relationships of the brothers. It tells how Reggie falls in love with Frances, how she feels after the marriage and the path to its destruction. It tells how Ron can be eccentric sometimes, and yet the strong bond of brothers keep them unless. I find the plot engrossing and engaging. It feels as if the film gives an intimate glimpse of their lives, not just their achievements but their emotional connections well. I really feel for the Kray brothers, and evoking such emotions is something unusual for a gangster film!

The actors playing the brothers look quite alike, but not identical because they still have different mannerisms. Imagine the shock I have when the credits reveal that the two brothers are both played by Tom Hardy!