Legend (2015)

The infamous Kray brothers – identical twins Reggie and Ronnie – are so well known in British gangster history they've already had multiple films made about them. What writer-director Brian Helgeland brings to the table with his take on the notorious siblings is exuberant storytelling, classy visual styling and a tour de force performance by Tom Hardy as both twins. Hardy's dual turn is undeniably the centrepiece of the movie. His Reggie is all charm and swagger, with intelligence and ambition to boot, whilst the schizophrenic Ronnie is a short-tempered ball of emotional bluster. Helgeland sensibly opts to make Reggie the focus; of the two he is the more grounded one, a gangster with lofty aspirations and the ability to interact on a human level with those around him to make his goals a reality. There is also genuine chemistry between Hardy (as Reggie) and Emily Browning, her fragile yet strong-willed Frances able to draw out the romantic side of Reggie, making his bursts of savagery all the more terrifying. Sporadically placed throughout the (overlong) two hour plus runtime, the bouts of violence bubble with intensity and exhilaration, often uneasily enjoyable thanks to moments of levity sprinkled alongside them. The 60s setting is capitalised on too, Dick Pope's elegant photography giving proceedings a classical feel while Carter Burwell's powerfully soulful score affects deeply at all the right times. There's a sense of glorification here that mightn't sit well with some audience members, however the Krays were adored in the East End and to deny the glitzier parts of their life would be to deny what made them popular to begin with. An exceptional crime picture with two outstanding performances from one man, proving again that Hardy really is an acting… legend.

Fmovies: When you walk into a film with not one but two leading performances by Tom Hardy, who's back catalogue brings nothing but pleasure (apart from This Means War, but we'll let that slide), you cant help but feel disappointed when you leave the screen completely unaffected by what you've just watched, and that was certainly how I felt hen it came to Legend.

Labelled of course as a Kray twin biopic, it sadly offers no real insight into their story and only grazes the top of their criminal wrong doings. Instead it goes down the route of Reggie and Frances love story, who is a character so under developed that the fragility her brother so often reiterates, isn't actually explained what so ever and prevents us from feeling anything towards her.

As for Hardy he plays both characters exceptionally well, particularly Ronnie who's insanity and subsequent spontaneity provides some comic relief to it all, however his psychological state is something that could of been explored more thoroughly instead of labelling him as just nuts. The supporting cast, including Taron Egerton and Christopher Eccleston, also do a fine job though Ecclestone's police officer almost gets ignored completely.

The violence is also few and far between but when it appears they definitely don't hold back, providing entertaining scenes more reminiscent of other crime dramas and what you would expect going in. It shows us the real consequences of the lifestyle they live which does its best to offset the fairly superficial painting of 60's London but isn't enough and so the 'glossy' comments its been receiving are sadly warranted.

In the end this adds up to a rather dull final product that wastes so much potential in this genuinely interesting real life crime partnership.

If asked what this film is "about", you can respond that it's about the Krays - and you can't be much more specific than that.

The possibilities were immense - it could have been about the politics of the Kray empire, or a character study into what made the Krays tick, or (probably what the film should have gone for) a focused story of the Krays' downfall. Instead, the film lacks any real coherence or a strong narrative arc; it essentially consists of a series of scenes which could have been played in almost any order.

Now, a film which deals with real events always has to strike a balance between authenticity and arranging events into a satisfyingly cohesive narrative. This can be a problem for films striving for strict accuracy, but Legend's larger-than-life, often tongue-in-cheek approach left plenty of room for fashioning a narrative. Yet the closest Legend comes to telling a story concerns the relationship between Reggie and his wife Frances. This was an odd choice of perspective (Frances functions as the movie's narrator), not least because the film doesn't really explore the relationship in any real depth - for instance, five minutes into their first date, Reggie and Frances kiss and that's all that's done to establish that they're "in love". Although Emily Browning performed well enough as Frances, the writing for her character was so bad it was jarring - she speaks in horrible movie clichés, in a way that no-one ever speaks in real life.

The writing is otherwise excellent, and brought to life by fantastic performances from the whole cast - but especially, of course, Tom Hardy. His portrait of Ronnie, though it constantly borders on being absolutely preposterous, is impossible to tear your eyes away from. In every scene, I was waiting for the camera to cut back to Ronnie so I could savour the performance.

Does Hardy's double-performance redeem the film's shortcomings? Well, yes - enough for me to say that this film is worth a watch. You will be entertained, even if the film drags towards the end.

But ultimately, Hardy's incredible performance is wasted on a film which failed to tell a story. Legend provides no sort of insight into Reggie and Frances' relationship, or the downfall of the Krays, or the workings of their empire, or, most crucially of all, into the motivations and characters of the Krays.

Legend fmovies. Let's start with the title...of all the films I've seen with irrelevant and inappropriate titles, this one takes the biscuit and I'm sorry, I didn't find the film legendary either. British cinema's continuing fascination with the notorious (now there's a better one-word title!) Kray Twins continues and I doubt this will be the last one either. The twist here of course is having Tom Hardy play both parts, thanks to some clever editing and video trickery, although with Reggie and Ronnie not at any time looking like the identical twins in the movie, you sort of wonder what was the point.

I liked half of Hardy's performances. His Reggie was fine, a criminal who falls in love with an innocent, pretty young girl and wants to be the perfect husband to her but can't resist the lure of power that running his London empire or his misguided loyalty to his more thuggish, slow-witted brother, Ronnie. I personally found his second portrayal of the lumbering other brother to be exaggerated and bordering into caricature.

The film tries to tell its story through the eyes of Reggie Kray's young wife Frances who commits suicide only weeks into their marriage, seemingly unable to cope with her new husband's unwillingness to give up the trappings of his ill-gotten success, although I am aware that her family today strongly disagrees with the passivity and helplessness she exhibits here, claiming in her defence her feistiness and even bravery in leaving Kray so soon after their wedding and then quickly deliberately overdosing rather than be dragged back into Kray's orbit. This seemed to me to be an unsuccessful attempt to humanise the Krays particularly as it seems to be at least part of the justification of Reggie Kray's seemingly out-of-character frenzied killing of Jack "The Hat" McVitie.

I also found the film to be selective of other events in their well-known story and a certain lack of continuity in the narrative, with the use of 60's music to define the era being haphazard at best (for example Herman's Hermits' 1964 UK number 1 hit "I'm Into Something Good" plays while Reggie is nicked while watching the World Cup Final which took place in the summer of 1966 - the Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon" would have fit better, surely).

Quibbling apart, the film just rambled on, with little dramatic tension or driving narrative. It would have benefited greatly from tighter editing and a more focused storyline in my opinion and in the end seemed to rely far too much on Hardy to carry the film on his two pair of shoulders. However what really let the film down as indicated for me were the writing, the pacing and a distinct lack of edginess I think that any film dealing with the Krays needs to address. Clever casting gimmickry can't compensate for those.

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!!!

It is true that glasses and change of hairdo can actually produce a different personality. This movie is mostly dedicated to Tom Hardy delivering his excellent, albeit slightly and funnily schizophrenic, acting prowess. As far as biopic goes, other films such as Black Mass delivers a more in depth-look of the mafia life style, but Legend opts for a direct personal view of the brothers and takes full advantage of the lead actor.

Tom Hardy plays as both Ron and Reggie Kray, performed with a tweak of facial expression and mild change on make-up. Reggie is the more levelheaded one while Ron can be described as batcrap insane. They are both capable of violence and living a shared gangster life. The events are told by narration from Frances (Emily Browning), Reggie's love interest and a silent witness to the horrible dealings.

The movie's strongest point is undoubtedly the lead, it is not often that this "one actor two roles" is used in cinema recently. Tom Hardy delivers everything expected from him, from the subtle or strong expression, change of speech and mannerism to intricate body language of different characters. Viewers know the twin scene is done by effect, yet they often look like two different persons interacting with each other.

It dabbles in less criminal activities and more in private life, evident by using Frances a key point for developments even though she is mostly there as spectator, especially when mafia dealings are concerned. Emily Browning is a good addition, she handles her own well, but it's not the level of outlandish on-screen presence like the Krays.

While there is a definite involvement of crime thriller aspect, it doesn't portray the shady indulgent in its entirety. It's not the intricate inside view like that of American Hustle. There are few violent scenes, although the movie is not a noir gritty musing and some of the events could be done more thoroughly.

Tom Hardy has done some interesting roles, but none arguably had this level of complexity. Legend further cemented his acting signature on the silver screen, it may not be an in-depth take of criminal enterprise, but he alone, or two of him, is enough to carry the movie.