LEGION (2010)
**
Though not a complete disaster, director Scott Stewart’s Legion nevertheless suggests a new drinking game: let’s take a shot every time a film recalls another - and, superior - film.
In the case of Legion, the first chug goes to the movie it most immediately echoes: 1995’s underrated The Prophecy. Witness descriptions found on each film’s IMDB page:
The Prophecy
Angels come to Earth to find a human soul that can end the war in heaven. Humans are caught up in this battle and must find a way to stop the angel Gabriel before he takes the soul back from where the angel Simon has hidden it.
Legion
An out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race. When God loses faith in humankind, 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 with the Archangel Michael.
…oh, and angels Gabriel and Michael both find their way into each others’ films, too. Had God not promoted any other angels to Arch-status in all these years?
Drink shot #2 to Tremors, where - as referenced above - the small band of heroes battle their invaders in an out-of-the way town. In Tremors, that town is called Perfection - in Legion, you get Paradise Falls…
Shots #3, #4, #5, and so on go to any of the numerous zombie flicks this film will recall. In Legion, the angels are able to possess humans, turning them into fast-moving, shrieking advancing creatures (28 Days Later…) - before suddenly, and inexplicably, they become slow-moving stone-faced drones (Night of the Living Dead). Best defense? Taking shots at the masses from the roof (Dawn of the Dead)…
Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the very first “this reminds me of…” moment that occurs seconds into the film - the Terminator moment where Paul Bettany’s Michael lands on earth, a nude warrior from another dimension determined to save the human race. He breaks into a store to clothe and arm himself, before making his way to those he must protect and delivers one “come with me if you want to live”-esque line after another.
Creepy crawling old lady on the ceiling? Very rad moment indeed, but sorry - saw it in Exorcist III: Legion (yes - Legion). If you’re not out of Goldschlager yet, and if you’re still functional, knock another one back…
But yet, in defense of Legion, its shameless lack of originality doesn’t entirely ruin the film - despite this, some tedious dialogue by writers Peter Schink and Scott Stewart, and an unintentionally comical, overly-dramatic performance by Dennis Quaid (and you thought he was bad in The Day After Tomorrow!), Legion manages to deliver some effective moments, boosted mostly by Field of Dreams/Pleasantville cinematographer John Lindley. The town and citizens of Paradise Falls are shot delicately, dust and isolation crisp and intact, and the shock and awe of their sudden immersion into an epic supernatural blitzkreig is palpable. Makeup and special effects are effective, particularly the more gruesome the invading angels get.
Overall, there too many “let’s get deep now” moments in this film that slow the proceedings to a thud, and whereas the inevitable angel-vs.-angel showdown does manage to thrill, the film unwisely continues to a double-climax that falls flat, as stunningly anticlimactic as it is a head-scratcher. Altogether, Legion a so-so endeavor that offers nothing new - outside of, again, the world’s next great drinking game.
- Logan Crow
January 27, 2010
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