LEGEND

Director: Brian Helgeland
Writers: Brian Helgeland, John Pearson
Stars: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Taron Egerton
Strengths: Acting, Story
Weakness: Violence and language is unsuitable for some audiences
Runtime: 132 minutes
Rating: 4/5

Plot: The film tells the story of the identical twin gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray, two of the most notorious criminals in British history, and their organised crime empire in the East End of London during the 1960s.

Review: From the very opening scene of the film, you know this isn't going to be some emotional drama as we are introduced to the Kray twins in a daunting and legendary manner. The movie depicts the rise of these twins to their eventual destiny as the kingpins of organized crime. The film basically tells the story of Reg more so than his brother Ron, as he has more going on and more struggles to deal with than his brother. The other twin, Ron, is mentally ill and residing in an asylum. However, through coercion, Reg gets his brother free and together they plot on ways to rise to the top by taking out their competitor gangs. While all this is going on, Reg falls desperately in love with one of his henchmen's sister, Frances. He tries to maintain a balance between being a good brother, a ruthless gangster, and his love life. Eventually though, it all falls apart and those downfalls make for the ending of the film.

The first thing you should know is that there is very little emotional drama going on here. Sure, the struggle in Reg and Frances's relationship could have been examined further, delving into the emotional upheaval between the two. But for the sake of keeping this a fast paced and gripping film, I guess that decision has been vetoed. However, the movie hasn't suffered one bit, as the portrayal was still top-notch, as were the locations, effects, and of course, the performances. Tom Hardy has done an absolutely marvellous job. Pulling off two very different roles in the same film is no small feat, but he has managed it perfectly. Supporting performances were also fantastic.

While portraying gangsters isn't really what one would call inspirational by any means, it is still a fantastic film nonetheless and is a must watch.
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Reviewed by Intisab Shahriyar