Legend
Legend
R | 20 November 2015 (USA)
Legend Trailers

Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.

Reviews
BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Klara Like many others here, I share the opinion on Hardy's performance: It was great. He played the two characters so differently, I didn't even see the same actor in them. Even though Hardy plays both of the main characters, I could distinguish them in every second of the movie. The props were great too. I am sucker for old cars and the 60s in general, so that was great, really.But the other things that play into a good movie, for example a compelling plot(!) was not really there. I got so bored at times, at the dialogue, at things repeating themselves, etc. There were one or two scenes in the movie that I really enjoyed, but most of the time I just sat there, waiting for something to happen. After one hour, I thought the movie should be over soon - only to find out I hadn't even watched half of the movie. I stuck through it nonetheless, because I thought something gamechaning or super amazing would happen, something I couldn't predict or anything like that, but nothing happened.All in all I would say that you could watch this film if you are into mafia-gangster-movies, into the 60s and cool cars, or into a really good acting performance, but you don't have to. It's not a Must-see. It's a Could-watch-if-bored.
SquirePM I finally watched "Legend" in the hope that it might equal "The Krays" (1990) which is a very fine film. Unfortunately it falls far short of that lofty goal. Tom Hardy is excellent in his dual role which is, of course, a marvel of modern film technology. Both Krays appearing in the same scene, both facing the camera, played by one actor in seamless perfection is technically impressive.However, the story telling is a.) uneven, b.) incredibly slow and boring at times, and c.) not nearly as insightful as "the Krays" and lacking the visceral impact of that powerful movie. Just reciting a series of historical facts and asking your lead actor to put some emotion in them, doesn't add up to good movie making. A lot of talent was wasted in the process, especially Tara Fitzgerald and Taron Egerton who were reduced to wallpaper roles. Emily Browning's impressive efforts in portraying poor love struck Frances are above par but they pale in comparison with those of Kate Hardie who played that role in the 1990 version.I would have rated this movie higher than the 4 I gave it, if it were not for the odd stretches of prolonged dull scenes of, well, nothing. The 1990 original is much better on many levels.
Alan Benfield Jr (alanbenfieldjr) The original film about the subject "The Krays" (1990) had Billie Whitelaw as their mother and, somehow, she dominated my memory of the film. Here the twins have a mother but she is, on the film, a distant character and that's what I missed here. I missed their interaction. She clearly had a massive influence in their characters but in Legend, those pieces of the puzzle are unfortunately missing. But, Tom Hardy compensates for any flaws. He is extraordinary, twice. The twins are total individuals, totally two people. What they carry in common is a sort of sexual danger, one explicitly the other implicitly but both as powerful. They dare us to get close. Amazing performance(s)
epat I really enjoyed Legend towards the beginning — lots of great local color & interesting characters & the fight at the Pig & Whistle is one of the jolliest I've ever seen. Only Ronnie Kray could have been maniacal enough to convince a whole bar full of hard cases intent on serious mischief that: a) he'd brought along two pistols to what he reckoned to be a shootout, b) he'd get so infuriated that the other side was armed with nothing more than iron pipes & the like & c) he'd forget about his twin brother & stalk off in sheer indignation.It was far less enjoyable, tho no less brilliant, later on when it all turned dark & nasty. I'm sure it must have felt much like that to the Krays too, watching their lives spin out of control.Tom Hardy did a brilliant job portraying both twins; I had to keep reminding myself this was the same actor, all the while marveling at his versatility. His characterization of violently schizoid Ronnie was admirably nuanced. Making him hateful would have been so so easy, but half the time Hardy had you feeling sorry for the poor daft bugger. Brilliant. The very best of the Kray films, I calls it.