Legend Review

Legend follows the true story of the rise and fall of London's most infamous gangsters, twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray. Their time on the streets of London captivated the public with intrigue of their criminal empire. This crime thriller divulges the extraordinary events that secured the Kray's fame and how they were "fucking untouchable", as said by Ronnie in the film.

For UK audiences, the story of the Kray twins was not unknown, and to see their story portrayed in such an entertaining and thrilling manner, having both twins played by Tom Hardy. Hardy could not have been a better choice for the roles of Ronnie and Reggie as he creates such vast depth of character to distinguish them, it's almost as if you are watching two actors, not one. After starring in Mad Max earlier in the year, it was so entertaining to watch Hardy transform into yet another set of interesting characters.

The film was extremely stylised with the use of voice over narration to ensure audiences are following the story clearly. I feel director, Brian Helgeland, consciously made the decision to use Frances' (Emily Browning) voice to tell the story, to contrast the soft nature of her character with her violent life. The relationship between Reggie and Frances is almost portrayed as your standard romantic comedy, however the brutality that segregates these happy moments definitely shows the dark lives these characters lived. At time this violence could become comedic, much like the bar 'shoot out' where Ronnie storms out with his guns but returns with a hammer, and Reggie pours himself a pint during the fight, however I feel this is used to show the deteriorating happiness in these character's lives, as worse and worse events transpire and the comedic side of the fights become less and less.

At times Legend seems more of a Scorsese tribute, which has hinders the films ability to have its own sense of individuality. Seemingly, the film romanticises Reggie Kray and dumbing down Frances, much to her relative's dismay. This had limited Helgeland's ability to use new and unique shots (trying to copy the Copacabana tracking shot) and the film felt stereotypical of ganger films previously made. Personally, at this point, it felt the only thing that saved the film was the acting masterclass from Tom Hardy, as he kept audiences engaged when things began to feel clichéd.

Overall, I feel Legend is a film worth watching for Hardy's performance and the developing narrative in which the audience realises things are going downhill before the characters do, however, from a scriptwriter and creative point of view, the film lacks originality.