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Legion : Angels with machine guns
The poster for the movie Legion, which depicts the heavenly body of actor Paul Bettany with a pair of wings protruding from his back, sends a clear message to moviegoers: it's an angel movie, people
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he poster for the movie Legion, which depicts the heavenly body of actor Paul Bettany with a pair of wings protruding from his back, sends a clear message to moviegoers: it's an angel movie, people.
It's Hollywood doing the angel thing again. While in other movies the angels usually appear to be the ones being turned to for help, Legion offers a different line.
The film is not the typical angel story where an angel, winged or otherwise, falls to Earth and in love with a mortal, as with Nicholas Cage in City of Angels or Denzel Washington in The Preacher's Wife.
Legion provides a darker and gloomier story than other angel flicks, bringing more action, full of machine-gun blasts.
The fantasy-action-thriller gives us a world where God has lost faith in humankind. So what does God do when He feels that way?
"The last time God lost faith in man, He sent the flood. This time, He sent angels," says the archangel Michael, played by Englishman Bettany, who rose to fame as Silas in The Da Vinci Code.
Michael is a fallen angel sent by God to Earth.
But he decides to break the rules that bind him to the Almighty, and chooses to take a stand with humans, trying to protect one woman's unborn child - the one who is said to be the only hope for humanity to survive.
Besides the chaos around the globe, life goes on as normal for Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid), the owner of a roadside diner in a dusty desert, and his only son Jeep (Lucas Black).
Charlie (the luscious Adrianne Palicki), a pregnant waitress, works for Bob.
The problems begin when the TV reception dies and the phones go out, and the diner's crew and customers realize they have lost all communication with the outside world.
As they wonder what's happening, an old woman (Jeannette Miller) arrives and orders a steak.
Not long after her meal arrives, the fragile old lady turns into a powerful woman, striking fear into everyone in the diner.
Enter Michael, complete with an arsenal of stolen weapons, telling Charlie that her unborn baby is now humanity's only hope. And he is willing to do whatever it takes to save the baby.
This modest, backwater diner in the desert suddenly becomes the silent witness to, and ground zero for, the Earth's final battle.
The world has become an unstoppable nightmare for the last people on the planet as hordes of zombie-like killers arrive and an army of warrior angels closes in, with rival archangel Gabriel looking to finish the job.
Gabriel is played by Kevin Durand, previously from X-Men Origins: Wolverine and several episodes in the series Lost.
Directed by visual effects master Scott Stewart (Iron Man, Night at the Museum, Superman Returns), this film is equal parts action movie, supernatural thriller and horror, with a sprinkling of drama.
Despite its heavy action scenes, it leaves several gaping plot holes by skimming over some subjects.
There is no reason given for why Michael has been ordered to kill Charlie's unborn baby, even though it is said the baby will save mankind, whatever that means.
Quaid, playing the token loner, helps out a lot with his acting talent, giving a surprisingly good performance.
Verdict: A well-built angel carrying machine guns offers (forgettable) fun for the weekend.
Legion
Screen Gems, 104 minutes
Directed by Scott Stewart
Produced by David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
Written by Peter Schink, Scott Stewart
Starring Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Lucas Black, Adrianne Palicki, Kevin Durand, Kate Walsh
