It is a small wonder Hollywood’s never been able to fully tackle the Christian mythos. Sure, there are countless renderings of the Jesus Christ and Moses stories, but other than that? Not much credible product to speak of (The Prophecy‘s not that credible), despite an abundance of source material.
From John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost to the Book of Revelations to Glen Duncan’s 2002 novel I, Lucifer (which has been shopped around for what feels like longer than 8 years), there’s plenty going on, whether it be the fall of Lucifer, the end of the world or a second chance for the devil to redeem himself.
Yet, despite all of this, the best there is looks something like Scott Stewart’s Legion: a ham-fisted, heavy handed horror-drama featuring angels or demons and, as always, humans.
In this case the angel is Michael (Paul Bettany), who’s chosen to disobey an order from God and fall to earth, cutting off his wings and withdrawing his immortality. The order consisted of exterminating the human race, starting with the murder of a young, pregnant woman named Charlie (Adrianne Palicki), who’s child is “the only chance humankind has of surviving.”
Why her child? Who knows. Frankly, who cares? This isn’t the kind of a movie you dig deep into.
Charlie currently resides in a nowhere town appropriately named Paradise Falls, which is comprised solely of the employees at a gas station/diner. There’s Charlie, Bob (Dennis Quaid), Bob’s son (Lucas Black) and Bob’s best friend (Charles S. Dutton).
Anyone else is a rare customer, who, on this particular day, include Kate Walsh (from Private Practice) and Tyrese Gibson. This is where the fate of the world will be decided, it turns out.
Not a bad premise, and not a bad collection of character actors (it’s nice to see a talent like Bettany get the lead role). The payoff? A surprisingly enjoyable B (alright C) movie full of zombie gore and pseudo-religious mumble-jumble that goes so far as to suggest God is fallible. That alone takes balls and, at the least, should be commended.
The special effects on display are rather impressive considering the low budget nature of its production (Screen Gems).
Scenes of dialogue are almost always overwrought and in your face (save one effective monologue by Charlie concerning abortion), but this mediocrity becomes part of the film’s charm. Everyone’s playing it straight, for sure, but also seem to understand how ridiculous and inherently incomplete the story is. It’s hard to imagine Stewart not feeling this way himself.
The action scenes work well, though they’re cut a bit hastily and lack a satisfying climactic battle scene despite a perfect moment to allot one (blame it on the budget?).
At the very least, it’s a good bad movie. At the very most, it’s proof that Hollywood has the financial capacity to produce a Christian origin/apocalyptic tale. Where it’s lacking (and perhaps where it’s always lacked?) is in the concept.
6 out of 10
What did you think of Legion?