| Legion |
| Written by William Case |
|
Case reviews "Legion," a subtly different Apocalyptic film.
Legion: When Zombies Have Souls When in the first five minutes you see a cross, blasted upon a building, you know what kind of movie you’re in for. “Legion” brings you to that point and never fails to disappoint from letting you glimpse into the minds of moviegoers, knowing what’s really important. Writer and director Scott Stewart brings an overly zealous plot, with nothing to gain from it but a sagging idea of what just happened and plausible religion. The story falls on the days before the end of man…again. God has lost his patience with humanity, so He has sent his legion of angels to wipe the slate clean again. However, two things can stop this devastation: “Fallen Angel” Michael, commander of the armies of God, and an unborn baby, who once born, will be the new Messiah. Michael rushes to the defense of the helpless mother and others in an out of the way diner to hold off the onslaught of angels until the child is born. Collectively, all of the pieces are there to use if they can be placed in the right order. You have your cast of upright and respected actors like Denis Quaid, Charles S. Dutton, and Paul Bettany. In spite of that, you remove Bettany’s humor and emotion, keeping him in one stoic face every frame. Better yet, allow Dutton’s character to have the majority of his lines in one monologue. Of course, bring in Lucas Black, and that deep southern accent of his sets in just like the plot - overbearing and excessive. Speaking of plot, that was another that was right in their fingers, then let slip through like so much dry sand. The concept of the armies wiping out civilization instead of protecting and defending is something somewhat new and inviting. Forget the fact that in Christian and most major religions, that’s horribly wrong and goes against major pedestals in their faith. In fact – just forgo all ideas of religion. It will make it that much easier for the migraine to set in. Unfortunately, much is manhandled into the final project, that you don’t what you just given. For one, and the largest issue logistically, is the simple fact that every one of the angels sent to attack, looked like the possessed from Constantine. While they begin to spring up, one could glance over to the handsome Michael (Bettany) that was the fallen one, and see which had the prettier looks. It makes you wonder, were only the high-ranking angels attractive, or just the cast down ones? Not only that, they acted more like conscious zombies, all working for a hive-goal, while ignoring guns that refused to run out of ammo (or were only shot twice before being thrown aside). Though it’s not like you will really see or understand any of what’s truly going on. Between the awkward pacing and cheesy plot expatiation, bad split cuts coupled with blurry tracking and darkened scenes, you’ll have a hard time connecting A to B. Which is always a shame when you can pick apart the mess the filmmakers couldn’t, especially when it just becomes another bad action flick. |