By Robert Andrews.
Since the likes of Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, British gangster movies have more often than not failed to spark new life into the genre, relying on weak plot lines, two dimensional stereotypical characters and an orgy of both violence and foul mouthed cockney tongue. Whilst Legend certainly exceeds the usually low quality of recent British gangster flicks, unfortunately regardless of the magnificent performance(s) from Tom Hardy, the film suffers from common problems associated with the genre and at times appears to forget that it is in fact a gangster movie and not a dull lacklustre love story.
That is not to say that Legend is without its merits. Whilst the film holds up well on a visual level with elements of costume, locations and lemon sherbets contributing to the creation of a crisp 1960’s image, unsurprisingly, as is often the case with projects associated with Tom Hardy, it is the lead actor’s performances that truly elevates the quality of the final product. His portrayal of both Ronnie and Reggie Kray is reminiscent of both the comedic and dark qualities embodied in his earlier performance of Charles Bronson, as Hardy regularly provides a frequent stream of comedic excerpts, whilst at times demonstrating a dark and twisted mind set. The image of Ronnie arguing with Reggie and subsequently Hardy arguing with Hardy remains fresh in the memory long after exiting the cinema and is evidently just another example of the unrivalled quality Hardy brings to the table film after film regardless of genre. Cockney powered insults so elegantly roll off of Hardy’s tongue to the desired effect, as even when words are absent Hardy’s body language alone (especially in terms of Ronnie’s portrayal) indicates more about characterisation than any amount of dialogue could manage. Whilst both Kray Twin’s occupy differing roles in the story with Ronnie more often than not posing as an antagonistic force to protagonist Reggie, Hardy’s performances will undoubtedly be the key talking point when discussions are raised regarding the merit of the film as a whole due to his ability to adapt so well to both roles.
With such a memorable duo of performances from an actor at the height of his popularity, I can’t help but feel that his acting efforts, as well as the efforts behind the camera in order to accurately duplicate Hardy on screen, are wasted when it comes to the film’s plot. The plot feels loose, like a wonder in the woods, unsure of the destination we the audience are heading towards. The reason for this I believe lies in one key issue. The Kray’s are gangsters. Legend is a gangster film. Yet the criminal endeavours of the Kray’s and the activities which justify their title as ‘Gangsters’ are widely unexplored. Story lines relating to this (most notably the Las Vegas deal) are set up and aren’t really paid off in the sense that the incident becomes forgotten when the film is attending to its other plot lines. Whilst the foundations are there to explore the Kray’s gangster endeavours, it becomes very apparent approximately half an hour into the film that the story will be hindered and ultimately consumed by a dull love story, void of any complexity that could separate it from any other love story in films of this type. Unfortunately this doomed tale of love consumes the plot up until the point where by the female lead played by Emily Browning provides a voice over as a means of unnecessary exposition, telling us what characters feel and think when we could so easily interpret this for ourselves. With so many interesting narrative directions that ultimately go unexplored, especially the detioriating relationship between the two gangster twins, the dominating and less interesting romantic subplot occupies too much screen time better spent on other more pressing and more importantly ‘gangster’ related plot lines.
Unfortunately this problem as aforementioned has major implications for other areas of the film’s narrative and ultimately proves to be the film’s downfall in terms of living up to the hype prior to its release. That is not to say the film is without enjoyment, as certainly Tom Hardy’s performances alone assures audiences of cinematic pleasure. It is just a matter of a dull love sub-plot dominating the film’s gangster proceedings that prevents Legend from rising to the heights that it had the potential to reach.
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