LEGEND is an instant classic, a bold and brilliant British film. A definite must see! I rate LEGEND 8/10, 4 Stars.
LEGEND, starring Tom Hardy (Warrior, Mad Max: Fury Road) and Tom Hardy (Warrior, Mad Max: Fury Road) and co-starring Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) and Christopher Eccleston (Thor: The Dark World) is a British crime thriller film written and directed by Brian Helgeland, the film follows and is based on the true story of the Kray twins; Ronald and Reginald and charts their dominance over London during the 1950's and 1960's leading up to their imprisonment in 1969, it closely focuses on the life of Reginald as he tries to manage both the gangster firm and his deeply psychotic and extremely violent brother, Ronald. Tom Hardy plays delivers two outstanding performances as he plays both Ronald and Reginald, the two heads of a brutal, gangster firm.
The dynamic of the Kray twins is really captured in the film, I myself already knew a lot about them because I had learned of them and read prior to the film's release Our Story, written by Reginald Kray himself. The Kray twins were a true gangster firm of organised crime with class and money, but also extremely violent, gruesome and intimidating, over the 1950's and early 1960's they dominated the East End of London with crimes ranging from robberies, arson, assaults and protection rackets. The firm was mainly ran by Reginald who dealt with all the business inquiries whether that be paying off police or organising protection for clubs, casinos and other stores that operated within their reach, Ronald Kray however was a psychotic one-man army, extremely violent and temperamental, this was great for intimidation but not so great for running a business which operated behind the scenes and away from the law. Tom Hardy's double performance of these two very different and iconic characters is really spot on, with his portrayal of the characters we can really see the struggle that the twins created for each other, Ronald and Reginald loved each other dearly and because they were brothers, and twins, Reginald had an extremely hard time controlling and keeping Ronald safe at the same time for he knew that Ronald would be the firms downfall.
The film is narrated from the perspective of Frances Shea (Emily Browning), Reginald's wife. Emily Browning captured Frances Shea beautifully and her dynamic with Tom Hardy as both of the twins worked wonders, with Ronald not trusting anyone but Reginald he viewed Frances as neither good enough for his brother, nor valuable in anyway. It really helped fuel the war between right and wrong, and set the twins even more at each other's throats.
One thing I was a little let down by is that the film plunges straight into the setting of London which is already for the most part controlled by the Krays, I was really hoping and wanting to see more of how they climbed the ladder to become a firm to start with; the smaller crimes. If this had been included I think the film may have been a 5 star rating, but unfortunately, it was not. The footage and film we do see though is brilliant though. It really captures what life was like for those both in the firm and out, although Christopher Eccleston doesn't have a huge role in the film, he does provide us with the sense of desperation that the police felt during the 1950's and 1960's while under stress from the government with corrupt politicians and from the intimidation provided by the firms.
LEGEND is a truly great crime film, probably one of the best to date and definitely one of the best films this year, I also think that this is Tom Hardy's best performance yet!
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