Legion (2010) Review

SYNOPSIS:

In the supernatural action thriller Legion, an out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race.

When God loses faith in Mankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity's only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a desert diner and the Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany).

Angels with machine guns. That's the way co-writer/director Scott Stewart described the film and that's how I approached Legion, and with that in mind I would say I almost got everything I asked for. However, instead of angels with machine guns I got an angel with a machine gun in a war determining the fate of mankind that was so one-sided it should have been over in a matter of seconds, but somehow managed to last an hour and 40 minutes. I'm beginning to open my eyes to how much fun films with absurd plot premises can be, but filmmakers are going to have to give us more than a tagline and begin delivering on an entire plot if they ever want to make anything more than a trailer out of their feature length movies.

Legion takes place in a middle-of-nowhere diner where the fate of mankind will be played out as God has lost faith in humanity and has sent the Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) to kill the baby that would otherwise save mankind. Michael disobeys and decides to protect the baby declaring he is giving God what he needs rather than what he's asked for, which causes God to send his entire angel army to do what Michael won't.

Occupants of the diner include Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Charles S. Dutton, Lucas Black, Kate Walsh, Willa Holland and Adrianne Palicki. It's not exactly an A-list group of actors, which is why Bettany is getting lead credit even though his decision-making when it comes to film roles recently is at the very least questionable. Stewart directed the film and co-wrote with Peter Schink whose only previous writing credit was co-writing "Gotham Cafe" an adaptation of a Stephen King novella.

Stewart is primarily known in the Hollywood ranks as a visual effects guru. He worked at the effects house The Orphanage, and with them he worked on the effects for Iron Man, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to name a few. As such it's no surprise his feature directorial debut would be an effects heavy feature that plays more like a video game than a movie, but that isn't necessarily the problem.

Where Stewart falters is in creating an admittedly fun premise and hands the keys to the future of mankind to a couple country bumpkins represented by Adrianne Palicki in a performance Estella Warren can be proud of and Lucas Black (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) playing a guy named Jeep, which really says just about all you need to know about his character. On top of that, (spoiler warning) how many black people do you need to put in a film in order to make sure at least one of them lives to see the end, or at least beyond a film's midway point? Apparently two isn't enough as Charles S. Dutton and Tyrese never even stood a chance, but I guess that's not important as neither one of them was pregnant with the baby that would save mankind. I'll tell you one thing though, if I had a choice of appointing Tyrese or Lucas Black to look after the baby that represents the future of mankind I'll take Tyrese every day of the week and -- wink, wink -- twice on Sunday.

I originally saw footage from this film at the San Diego Comic Con and my thoughts then assumed Legion would "be somewhere in the C-to-B-level range fantasy/CG effort." I wasn't too far off. As much as I can begin respecting absurd films for grasping tightly to their absurd plot-lines they still have to deliver more than just repeat gunfire and stereotypical screaming demons. The killer grandma from the trailer was entertaining, a demonic kid was creepy and the moment where Lucas and Adrianne climb a mountain for no apparent reason was hilarious. Hardly a recipe for even an early year effects feature.

As Legion continued to play I grew increasingly annoyed and just wanted it all to end. On home video it might make for a decent diversion, but it gives little reason to waste your money at the box-office watching something that delivers little more than its trailer did already.

LEGION (2010)

Starring: Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Tenney, Charles S. Dutton, Lucas Black, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand, Willa Holland, Doug Jones, Adrianne Palicki

Director: Scott Charles Stewart

Studio: Screen Gems

Genre: Thriller

Rating: R (For strong bloody violence, and language.)

Release Date: January 22, 2010

Official Site: http://legionmovie.com

The Book of Eli (2010) Review

SYNOPSIS:

Centers on a lone hero named Eli (Washington) who must fight his way across the wasteland of a near-future America to protect a sacred book that might hold the key to saving the future of humanity.

If life were to imitate art any time soon I would say we are in for a bit of a grey season. It appears Terminator Salvation and The Road didn't offer enough ashy post-apocalyptic decay in 2009 so the Hughes brothers (Menace II Society) banded together with Denzel Washington to deliver the spiritually driven actioner The Book of Eli, a film that never renders much of a heartbeat as much as it just predictably hums along for 118 minutes. I'm not necessarily complaining mind you -- this film isn't half-bad -- just don't go in expecting your world to be turned upside down.

Denzel stars as the title character Eli whom we first meet walking alone in the grey and desolate world left after nuclear war tore a hole in the sky causing the sun to scorch the Earth. Eli walks this wasteland with a purpose only he knows and in his possession is a book, of which the importance is quite clear once we meet Gary Oldman.

Oldman plays the evil Carnegie, a man lording over a small town in the middle of nowhere in search of said book with the intent of using it to control the unfortunate souls around him who are unable to read or write and would be susceptible to coercion. Control is his angle and he knows how to gain it.

The Book of Eli is a highly spiritual film, but it never takes things too far one way or the other even though it has its opportunities. The moment Carnegie spells out his plans, in which his intentions are obvious, his description could have upset some had it been explored further. It's quite clear, though, the Hughes brothers, working with a script written by Gary Whitta, were more interested in telling a story than making any kind of grand statements.

As such, the story has a few ups, such as the injection of humor offered by Michael Gambon late in the film and Eli's playful exchange with Tom Waits a bit earlier. The action scenes work well and the mood is set nicely using the stark landscapes of New Mexico to represent America and a scratchy techno-rock infused score from Atticus Ross. You can call upon many post-apocalyptic films for reference as cars litter the street shoulders and craters can be seen off to the side of the road. Echoes of Mad Max are obvious, but it never gets to the point it feels thin. There's nothing to complain about just as much as there is nothing really to champion.

Denzel is solid as Eli, and like I'm sure many of you out there also wondered, I was curious how Washington -- in his mid-fifties -- would do in a role that required plenty of hand-to-hand combat. I wondered if it would look slow or if flash editing would be necessary to hide his age, but in fact things looked quite intact and the action isn't overly used by any means. Stylized and visually comparable to a comic book it may be, but for an R-rated movie this isn't a gore-soaked extravaganza. In fact the Hughes brothers did a very good job never overselling any one portion of the film and managed to tell a very balanced story that revealed just enough information when necessary and knew just when to throw in some action to keep things moving along.

For what it's worth I wouldn't hesitate to recommend The Book of Eli to anyone looking for something to watch in theaters. As a beginning of the year entry, this film tries much harder to tell a story than most and actually comes out doing so with a good bit of action tossed into the mix. After all, as I was discussing with some fellow critics before the film began, it's hard to think of many Denzel Washington films that aren't easy to watch and even those that fall lower on the scale are better than 90% of the dreck that's out there.

THE BOOK OF ELI (2010)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Gary Oldman, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals, Michael Gambon, Evan Jones

Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

Studio: Warner Bros.

Genre: Action / Thriller

Rating: R (For some brutal violence and language.)

Release Date: January 15, 2010

Official Site: http://www.bookofelimovie.com