Légion : L'Armée des anges

This movie didn't arrive in my country with much fanfare, so before I bought a ticket I did some research. Most reviews were negative, but I went to see it out of pure boredom. I didn't expect much and having read all the negative reviews I watched it with my critics glasses on.

I actually enjoyed this movie. Never have I given a movie 8/10 before. Why did I do it now? Performances. I reckon the people who went out to see this movie expected blood, guts and fecal matter flying all over the place. Instead they found hardcore actors doing what they do best. Even lesser known actors were up there doing it with the masters of the industry. Paul Bettany is one of the most underrated actors of our time. When has he ever given anything but a solid performance? Dennis Quaid? His prettiness might be a thing of the past, but as a performer he grows with every movie he makes. The same goes for the whole cast. They all acted like superstars.

You won't like this movie if you're into mindless B-grade BS. If, however, you like movies because the actors telling the story makes a fantasy feel so real you actually feel you're gonna break the armrests off your chair you should do yourself a favor and see this movie.

On a final note. Being a Christian myself I did not find this movie offensive at all.

If you were to ask me, 'Is Legion a good film?' I would have to reply a resounding 'No.' However, that flies (like an angel?) in the face of the fact that I originally hired it, then bought it on DVD and have subsequently watched it a few times since. What can I say... I clearly have little taste in films! Sometimes you don't want DeNiro's excellent acting ability, or Christopher Nolan's tales of head-scratching, mind-bending concepts. You'll even forfeit decent dialogue and little character development for simple shooting monsters with big guns. And this is what you get right here.

Basically, God himself is disillusioned with the human race and decides it's time to get rid of them (and kill a baby while he's at it). However, God's top angel (played by Paul Bettany) says 'No way!' and decides to save this special child and, while he's at it, all of us mortals. Now, if this sounds like a feat that couldn't possibly be crammed into just an hour and a half, it all takes place in a restaurant by a freeway in the middle of the desert. Our - sort of - winged hero has to help a band of human survivors fend off wave after wave of (fallen?) angels until the child is born.

It's basically a 'siege' movie. Think 'Assault on Precinct 13' but with monsters attacking those held up in a small, barricaded dwelling. There's nothing more grandiose than that, so if that's the sort of low-brow film you want to watch at the end of a long day's work then you should get what you're looking for. There's plenty of action and shoot-outs and for what it is it's not bad. Just don't go expecting anything too deep and dramatic and you won't be disappointed. Oh and Dennis Quaid is also in it - he tries to act his best with the script he's been given and occasionally comes close to succeeding. But then another battle comes along and you end up losing another extra in a hideous way possible.

It's not amazing, but then I don't think it ever tries to be. Know what it is and keep your expectations low. Don't worry, there's plenty of time to check your smartphone during the lulls in the action. You won't miss a thing.

The Angel Michael (Paul Bettany) plunges from heaven to Earth, after which he cuts off his wings and gets busy with gathering up an arsenal of weapons. In the meantime in an god-forsaken diner in the middle of New Mexico several lost travellers and the diner's employees surprisingly become a central point to the apocalypse. All because of the unborn baby of the diner's hapless waitress. Soon people possessed by angels appear and only Michael's arrival helps stave off the impending doom...

Even with the above basic premise it is easy to figure out where this movie is going. It that sense it is basically a homage to the brilliant Prophecy series (brilliant more in content than acting or direction). Now I must say that I am extremely surprised by the low grades the movie has on IMDb, given that so many worse movies have ratings in their 6s or 7s...

There are definitely things not right in this movie with the whole middle sequence surprisingly poor and borderline terrible in its lack of logic - possessed suddenly stop attacking and let the one thing they are preventing from happening happen... That said the acting was at least good and characters are well presented. Add to that a very good fight sequence with the angel Gabriel and I found this movie a good if uninspiring watch.

Enjoying this movie might enrage God more than anything that happens in it .. but seriously though (and hopefully you are not offended), this movie is illogical and has quite a few clichés going for it. You might see where it is going (or "staying" if you will) and you might not like quite a few reveals or the ending. But the good thing about it is, you can sit back and enjoy it, without having to think about certain story related problems or continuity and other stuff.

Of course if you were to use your brain while watching this, one of the things you'd notice, is the fact that Dennis Quaid seems to have a bad choice of movie roles lately. "Bad" if you consider what he is capable of and what he ends up playing (this might actually take under 10% of his abilities to pull it off). But then again, you shouldn't care. You also shouldn't care too much about cardboard cut outs presented as "characters". But if you do, this is were I warned you. Which is more of a warning then someone else gave before unleashing ... but you know the rest or are about to see the rest.

The Prophecy is still the better movie (first one), but for a quick and fun movie, you can always rely on the action on hand here (which is shot very nicely)

Legion (2010) Directed by: Scott Stewart Starring: Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Adrianne Palicki, Charles S. Dutton, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Durand, and Dennis Quaid

When God loses faith in Mankind, Archangel Michael (Bettany) loses his faith in God. An out- of-the-way diner becomes an unlikely battleground for the survival of humankind as Michael and a group of strangers defend themselves against God's legion of angels. Michael must protect a mother (Palicki) and her baby, for it is the key to ending the Apocalypse. Let me start off by saying that Legion is not a good movie, however, it is not terrible by any means. Unlike recent biblical horrors (The Unborn comes to mind), Legion tries very hard not to follow the lame clichés of recent horrors; I always commend a film for trying to be good. Unfortunately, it takes itself a little to seriously with God's legion of zombies that are supposed to be possessed by angels. The film also was terribly written, ("What's your beef?" "Simmer down!" "Hold on white boy") with weird scenes that needed some serious editing. Besides the bad script and erratic editing, the acting was terrible. The only exceptions were Paul Bettany (who seemed to have flown into the wrong movie) and Lucas Black (Sling Blade, Friday Night Lights). Everyone else was uninspired and made the bad screenplay look much more terrible than it was. The action scenes are where this film soared. The fight between the two Archangels was incredible, and the visual effects were on par. Overall, Legion is a biblical Assault on Precinct 13. It lacks a good script, editing, cinematography, and acting. I commend it for trying to be less like recent horror films that really shouldn't even call themselves 'films". I think deep down, on the cutting room floor, there was something there, but we don't see it. Legion is by no means horrible, but I can't recommend it.

Rating: 5/10