MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence and language.
Runtime: 117 mins.
Director: Martin Campbell
Writer: William Monahan and Andrew Bovell
Cast: Mel Gibson; Ray Winstone; Danny Huston
Tagline: Some secrets take us to the edge.
Genre: Drama | Thriller
Memorable Quote: "You had better decide whether you're hangin' on the cross... or bangin' in the nails. "
Release Date: January 29, 2010
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
You've seen the trailer and, trust me, that is all you need to know to know what the film is about (90 minutes too long) and where it's going (nowhere fast). Adrianne Palicki plays Charlie, an overworked cigarette-sucking waitress in a small New Mexico diner, who is carrying the Christ-child in her womb. Paul Bettany plays the angel Michael, now a fallen angel due to God's lack of faith in humanity, and he swears to protect Charlie and her baby (the Christ-child who lead the world out of darkness after the apocalypse) against Gabriel (played by Kevin Durand) and somehow thwart off the impending apocalypse with his tattoos and his weapons as a legion of secret-keeping demons descend onto their location. Sound interesting? Yeah, I thought naught.
The film is being billed as a supernatural action film, but those unlucky enough to see the film may wonder two things: exactly what is â"super" about this film and where's all the action? The film is too talky for teenagers and those folks brushed up on their Bible studies will laugh themselves out the door at its absurdities. Case in point: God lost faith in man because of â"all the bullshit". Not my words, folks. Co-starring Dennis Quaid and Tyrese Gibson in wounding caricatures of the type of roles they normally play, the film might not be the worse-looking movie to open this week with a leading man in wings to star in it (note The Tooth Fairy), but it certainly feels and acts like it is.
As silly as Stewart's story sounds, there simply is no fun to be had here; it's awful and it could benefit from laughter. The actors look bored, the things they say are mostly throw-away lines, and the film takes itself way too seriously to be effective. This is classic What-NOT-To-Do Cinema 101, folks. There's nothing to sustain the audience's attention with no emotion, no fun, and no inherent danger felt by friend or foe; it's angels vs. demons for Christ's sake. While it can't monetarily compare with Cameron's Avatar, writer/director Scott Stewart's Legion employs the same tired clichés that Cameron's film does and, in doing so, reveals the flaws inherent in supremely weak story-telling gaping flaws that its special effects can't swathe and pass off as the Second Coming of Star Wars.
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