Legion is a flawed but decent action thriller from director Scott Stewart who does a good job of making this movie despite it's problems. I didn't think this film was the disaster critics made it out to be. Yeah it has flaws which I'll get into later and it isn't necessarily the best movie I've ever seen but it certainly wasn't the worst either. Paul Bettany is solid as the arch angel Michael who disobeys gods orders to wipe out the human race and instead decides to fight for them. Thats right people in this film God and his angels are the villains. This may upset some people but I felt it was an interesting twist and it worked for the movie. Paul Betttany is quite convincing as Michael especially in the action/fight sequences. I will give him this too. Bettany's character knows how to make one hell of an entrance. He shows up early on and then he disappears for most of the beginning which made him feel a little short handed development wise. When Bettany reappears as Michael at the diner luckily he's in it more after that. Granted Bettany may not win any awards for this role but he still turns in a good performance none the less. The rest of the cast including Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, and Adrianne Palicki turn in decent performances. Black sort of sits out action wise until the third act but he delivers a good performance as Jeep Hanson an average joe whose taken under the wing by Michael. Tyrese Gibson is okay as the mysterious drifter Kyle Williams who *spoiler* sort of disappears late in the second act with no explanation after getting bitten. He does what his role requires through I guess. Adrianne Palicki plays Charlie a pregnant waitress whose unborn child must be protected for somewhat unknown reasons except that he will somehow save the human race from annihilation. Palicki is all right as the character who like Gibson does what the role asks of her. The same can be said for Charles S. Dutton, Willa Holland, Kate Walsh, and Dennis Quaid who are effective in their limited screen time. Walsh however seemed to over act at times and I felt she was the weak link in the cast as Sandra who just complains and complains which kind of hurt the film until she eventually bites the dust. Walsh isn't that bad of an actress but this wasn't her best performance. Dutton is good Percy Walker despite not having a whole lot to do and being written out rather quickly in the second act. Quaid like Dutton doesn't have a lot to work with but he brings what he can to the role of Jeep's father Bob. There was some chemistry between him and Black which made their father/son relationship believable for the most part. Kevin Durand is decent but underused as the arch angel Gabriel considering he's only in it for 15 maybe 20 minutes tops. Durand like some of his co-stars does what is asked of him though. Jon Tenney has what amounts to an extended appearance doing what he can with his very small part before becoming a background character for the remained of the second half who like Dutton and Gibson is written out too soon for you to care whether he dies or not. The rest of the relatively unknown cast including Grandma Gladys, Doug Jones as the Ice Cream Man, and the actors playing the possessed are effective in the few minutes their on screen. The action is well executed and the special effects work for the film mostly even if you can some of it is obviously CG. The showdown between Michael and Gabriel near the end is kind of short because those expecting an epic battle royale between two titans will be disappointed but their fight is pretty well choreographed none the less. The movie seemed to take it's time at least trying to develop the main characters in attempt to make you invested in their struggle before diving into the thick of the action which was a nice change considering films of this genre seem to be more about the spectacle than the story and characters. Now that I've mentioned what I liked about it I'll get into the flaws. Many characters (Gabriel, Percy, and Kyle to name a few) aren't developed enough. They are just there with little to do and their characters can come across as one dimensional. A little more development would've helped because if you can get the audience to care about the characters with action sequences well paced they will enjoy it more than a film that was made purely for the spectacle. The dialog wasn't the best at times with characters making stupid decisions sometimes like running out to save people who already dead only to die yourself because it was a trap. The story itself was okay with an interesting twist (God and his angels being the villains)yet it could've been handled much better. There were some predictable moments which weighed down the film a bit. Overall though I didn't find Legion was the epic disaster most critics made it out to be. Yeah sure it has plot holes and flaws with questions left unanswered but Legion wasn't that bad. And if you give the film a chance which I did who knows you might end up enjoying it. I for one thought it was flawed but decent. Legion has enough action, a little suspense, some character development, and solid performances from the cast (especially Paul Bettany) who make this action supernatural thriller worth watching at least once.
