Legion

Supernatural thrillers have always resonated with me in some way, particularly ones based on Christian mythology. Usually, most supernatural thrillers involve demons or Satan or some combination of the two. It started with The Exorcist, but there have been many movies of that sort since then, some good, some bad. But there really haven't been many films where it's angels, instead of demons, that are wreaking havoc on mankind. The only two that really come to mind are The Prophecy, where Christopher Walken plays the archangel Gabriel, and most recently, Legion.

Legion opens as a mysterious man falls out of the sky and it's revealed that he is the archangel Michael(Paul Bettany). After cutting off his wings, he storms a local gunshop and grabs an assortment of weapons before leaving the city. In the middle of the Nevada desert at a rundown place called Paradise Falls, the owner, Bob(Dennis Quaid) is trying to fix his TV while his assistant Percy(Charles S. Dutton)is cooking food for some customers. Bob's son, Jeep(Lucas Black) is in love with a pregnant woman, Charlie(Adrianne Palicki). Soon after, a mysterious old woman comes to the diner and asks for raw meat. Then, all hell breaks loose. She becomes unhinged, attacking one of the other customers and starts crawling on the ceiling like a spider. After she's dispatched, Michael shows up. Turns out that God is angry with mankind and has sent his army of angels, led by Gabriel(Kevin Durand), to destroy them. Michael still has faith in mankind and has disobeyed God in order to save humanity.

The concept of angels laying waste to mankind is actually really interesting, but the execution is not exactly what I had expected. Instead of angels in their full winged glory, the ones we see the most of are actually possessed people. Pretty cliche if you ask me. The aforementioned scene with the old lady is actually pretty creepy, as we see her just become unhinged and start attacking people. The only two angels that we actually see are Gabriel and Michael. Michael clipped his wings so we only see him with wings for a short time. Gabriel only shows up in one scene where he and Michael are in Heaven discussing God's order to exterminate mankind. The next scene we see him in is when he's fighting Michael in the diner, which is actually a very spectacular fight, and towards the end of the film. The performances are all across the board. I've never been a big fan of Lucas Black and I can't stand that heavy southern accent of his. He's just not convincing. Adrianne Palicki, is also fairly unconvincing, and she comes across as whiny and overly unsympathetic. Being a fan of Dennis Quaid, he came across as a little too over-the-top as resident skeptic and crotchety old guy Bob. He's still fun to watch though. Charles S. Dutton has always been reliable and he's no different in this film, I just think he lays a little to heavy on the whole religious bit, even though it's appropriate given the circumstances. The real saving grace here is Paul Bettany as Michael. He brings a real humanity and grace to the role. Not to mention he does most of his own stunts. Paul Bettany isn't usually known for action movies, but he does a fantastic job here. Kevin Durand brings a very intimidating presence as Gabriel and the confrontation between him and Michael is nothing short of spectacular.

I'll be truthful, I was expecting more of a horror movie with Legion. What I got was an action movie with elements of horror. And I have to mention this, if you were God and were going to send your angels to exterminate mankind, why would you bother having them possess people, like demons? Also, where is Lucifer in all this? Wouldn't he try to capitalize on something like this? These are important questions that aren't answered and leave huge gaping logic holes in the film. Not to mention the people in the film make some really stupid decisions. Legion had potential to be a really epic kind of thriller and unfortunately, it only gets half-way there. Granted, having a film where angels are the bad guys, probably wouldn't sit too well with everyone, but it is an interesting concept nonetheless. The execution just wasn't 100 percent. The action scenes are decent though, and the film moves at a pretty good clip. A lot of the effects are practical, and some of the possessed people are creepy, particularly the ice cream man. Overall, while the film disappoints in the whole mankind versus angels aspect, the action scenes and Paul Bettany help considerably. With a little more time and more money, Legion could've been so much more. As it stands, it's not really a bad movie, it's just not a very memorable one either. So, it gets an 8/10 from me.