At the beginning of Legion, the archangel Michael falls from the heavens, hacks his wings off with a celestial blade, then proceeds to break into a warehouse and steal guns, big guns, LOTS of big guns. Its a fun little opening to a thoroughly enjoyable genre film.
Plotwise, Legion is Terminator-lite. As Michael seeks to protect the unborn saviour of humanity, tasking the mother with teaching it how to undergo this considerable calling. He is beset by angel possessed human folk and the archangel Gabriel (read: T-800). Predictably, the story is bare bones and hokey, the cast is assembled from b-listers (Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson) and old pros looking for another hit (Dennis Quaid, Charles S. Dutton), CGI is ropey and old fashioned and its far too slight at 90 minutes.
Yet there is one shining light amidst the mediocrity, Paul Bettany. Rarely has a performance made me take the rest of the film seriously when it's clear that I shouldn't, but Bettany as Michael is so damn engaging its hard not to re-appraise the film whenever he is present. For every ponderous vignette concerning 'life back home' or 'regretting what your existence has been at the end of all things', there's a sequence where Michael dual weilds M16s or unleashes some angle-fu on the possessed horde. His actions are abrupt and satisfying, his mannerisms cool and calm and his voice emits soothing Queen's English. Bettany is the reason Legion wont be immediately relegated to the bargain bin, he is the heart of this generic little actioner.
At the beginning of Legion, the archangel Michael falls from the heavens, hacks his wings off with a celestial blade, then proceeds to break into a warehouse and steal guns, big guns, LOTS of big guns. angel card readings
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