Legion

Synopsis: When God sends Angels to destroy the world a group of strangers must defend themselves.

Release Date: January 22, 2010     MPAA Rating: PG-13

Genre(s): Science Fiction, Thriller

Film Review

Common literature has always taught us to root for the light and against the darkness. What happens then, when what is supposed to bring light to the world begins to wreak havoc on mankind? Can we really put our faith in the will of a higher being whose intent is to exterminate the human species? This is the premise Scott Stewart’s Legion attempts to grapple with. Apocalypse is nigh, and the angels have arrived, not to protect but to destroy the human population because God himself has lost faith in his people. This idea of angels, what we have come to understand in our cultural subconscious to be good and fair protectors, turning against man is particularly dark and disturbing. The only hope for mankind lies in the birth of a child who has been prophesied to lead the people out of darkness. This is a loose parallel to the birth of the Christ and coincidentally occurs on Christmas day. Paul Bettany gives a well-balanced performance as the archangel Michael, who has decided to rebel against the orders from God to exterminate mankind and instead, comes to earth to ensure the baby survives.

This is all good and well and could have panned out to be a relatively interesting film. Unfortunately this vaguely intriguing apocalyptic story was basically tacked onto the back of a very generic horror film. In fact, Legion uses every horror convention in the book and becomes a nonsensical mish mash of horror set pieces; featuring scary children, possessed beings, pustular rashes, old women, bugs, raw meat etc. Nine strangers are trapped at a dinner in the desert and have to fend off blood-thirsty, zombie-like people who are possessed by angels. I would say more, but you should know how it goes from there. Ultimately, Legion is not an apocalyptic film, rather it is a conventional horror film with apocalyptic themes loosely tying everything together.

There is nothing here that you haven’t seen before. Other than an interesting battle scene between the angel Gabriel and Michael which features rather elaborately re-imagined CGI wings. None of the other special effects really stood out or aided in enriching the story world.

Let me start off by saying that there is suspense in this film if only because the generic horror conventions do work. However, because there is a very campy aspect to the horror, it allows many scenes to appear almost comical. Often times, themes and characters that should have been disturbing and frightening only elicited giggles from the audience due to over-acting, lackluster costume choices or poor pacing.

Cast and Crew

• Director(s): Scott Stewart
• Producer(s): Peter SchinkScott StewartPaul Bettany (Michael)
• Screenwriter(s): Dennis Quaid (Bob Hanson)Kate Walsh (Sandra Anderson)Kevin Durand (Gabriel)
• Story: Tyrese Gibson (Kyle Williams)
• Cast:  Steven KemperJohn LindleyJeff Higinbotham
• Editor(s): Wendy Partridge
• Cinematographer: John Frizzell
• Production Designer(s):
• Costume Designer: 
• Casting Director(s): 
• Music Score: 
• Music Performed By: 
• Country Of Origin: USA