By Kristin Carroll
I’m pretty split on thoughts about Legion. While the action scenes were great (kudos to Cinematographer John Lindley), the storyline was somewhat lacking. Legion begins with an impending apocalypse, as we learn God has given up on mankind. In the opening scene, Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) arrives to Earth, brutally cutting off his wings. He steals an arsenal of weapons, fights some beat cops and takes to the open road.
Flash forward to a café in the desolate desert, where we meet an eclectic mix of locals and an obnoxious “city” family stranded due to car problems. The owner, Bob Hanson played by Dennis Quaid, runs the restaurant while his mechanic son Jeep spends time pining for 8-month pregnant waitress Charlie. We’re not provided with a background on who fathered Charlie’s child, nor do we ever learn. One of the many unanswered questions in the story.
The stage is set as patrons and café workers go about their business when a seemingly harmless grandmother walks in. With her arrival, things immediately go south. She turns into a foul-mouthed messenger of the apocalypse, sprouting demon baby-teeth, proclaiming the world is going to burn along with Charlie’s baby. After a physical confrontation, she begins to climb the ceiling. A decent foray into impending doom, with the café’s isolation giving a claustrophobic feel to the cast of characters.
Archangel Michael arrives then, providing context to what just occurred with demon-grandma. God and his angels, led by Archangel Gabriel, are destroying the human race. Michael, acting as outlaw does not agree with their plan. By siding with mankind, he is taking a stand against God to prove humans are in fact, worthy of life. He arms the group with guns, explaining Charlie must be protected until her baby is born, as the child will be humanity’s savior. We see the film leading to a modern spin on Jesus, Mary and Joseph. However, throughout the story, it is never explained who the child will grow to be or how he will save the world. Even if Legion evolves into a sequel, it would be nice to have some sort of teaser. Instead the audience is left wondering, a poor decision considering the reason Michael is fighting against God is for the child’s future.
The action sequences in the film are exciting, with flies and boils representing the Ten Plagues of Egypt, and humans possessed by evil angels. However, I was still expecting more. Between the chaos scenes and quick scares, there were long stretches of dialogue which ventured into the monotonous at times. (Not to mention some major stereotyping with characters.) I understand building anticipation and dread for the final man vs. God battle is necessary, but was hoping to have more than two of the ten plagues interspersed. Give me the locusts, hail and blood to further shake things up. There was definitely a lost opportunity here.
All in all, the movie was slickly produced, and didn’t fail to entertain. However, the glaring plot holes centering on Charlie’s baby should have been filled when the screenplay was produced. Also, (and this may be knit picking), but if God really wanted to destroy all humans, wouldn’t he wipe them out in one fell swoop rather then allow them to battle with machine guns in an overly dramatic James Bond vs. villain scenario? However, if that were the case, there wouldn’t be a movie, so maybe that’s taking the film too seriously. In conclusion, if you’re looking for a standard doom movie with some engrossing action scenes, check this one out. Prepare to suspend your disbelief, and enjoy it for what it is. A mindless action flick that’s not breaking any records yet still keeps you entertained for an hour and a half.
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