Legend is the true story of the Kray twins, a pair of gangsters in 1960s London. Following their rise to power and reign of terror, the movie focuses on the love story of one brother (the hot Tom Hardy), the struggles with madness of the other, and the loyalty between the two.
Tom Hardy acts his adorable derriere off in Legend, successfully pulling off being two people at once. While one character is noticeably more developed than the other, it’s rare an actor can swallow a movie of this magnitude. The film is rather light on plot, which is fine because the setting and characters allow you to immerse yourself in 1960’s London and its Cockney accents. Enthralling without the frenetic dialogue, gratuitous violence and schizophrenic cinematography Guy Ritchie is known for, this film actually tackles the real goings-on of gangsters, their relationships, and schizophrenia.
Legend wins points for having lead characters that are gay and gangsters (gaynsters?) without it being the only way these characters are defined. And though it gets points for tackling mental illness, it loses a few when it gets hammy. No points awarded for the female characters who only exist to aid the storylines of the male ones, and points taken away for (gratuitous and historically inaccurate) violence against women.
Overall, Legend is worth seeing, even if the opening production scenes scream film-student, and it sounds as if it was scored by a muzak composer. Great effort by Amazon Studios.
Framing the Story 
Should have been so much better. Nice review.
LikeLike