Directed by Scott Stewart’s. Starring Dennis Quaid, Paul Bettany, Doug Jones, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Durand, Kate Walsh. Horror/Thriller, USA, 100 minutes.

If your sort of horror fantasy movie is guilt-free, glossy drivel that asks for nothing except over-excited disbelief then look no further than Scott Stewart’s feature debut. After a career as a noted visual effects technician (IRON MAN, the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN trilogy, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW) Stewart turns in exactly what you’d expect from a Bible-based premise with exactly the same tropes as Greg Widen’s 1994 cult hit THE PROPHECY.

LEGION is an often compelling if corny chiller that runs the entire gamut between pretentiously ambiguous and imaginatively rubbish. A dusty diner in the Mojave Desert becomes ground zero for earth’s final showdown in this clear FEAST inspired waking nightmare with an END OF DAYS bent. For the nativity is played out in a post-apocalyptic world as renegade angels and zombie-like demons battle it out for the life of a baby soon to be born to single mother Charlie (Adrianne Palicki, Supergirl in ‘Smallville’). More than a little silly veering from high camp to supernatural hokum before you can say New Testament, an over-qualified, solid cast gives the portentous action far more conviction than it deserves. There’s imposing Paul Bettany as rogue archangel Michael out to protect the new messiah; Dennis Quaid as Bob Hansen doing his grizzled best to defend his Paradise Falls (geddit?) eatery where the fast-cut confrontations take place; and Tyrese Gibson as the so macho mysterious stranger literally gunning down God’s army of minions single-handedly. These non-scary torments include a spider-walking granny (someone’s seen THE EXORCIST special edition), a possessed ice cream van man (PAN’S LABYRINTH’s bendy Doug Jones), and an evil blond cherub. The problem with the tests sent from the Almighty is they all come in seemingly innocent disguise. So the moment anyone else innocuous arrives on the scene it’s obvious they are yet another fierce entity trying to grab the unborn kid. Stewart does marvels in containing the film within the single setting, and introducing the series of religious ciphers without offending American Bible Belt sensibilities.

Therefore LEGION is tackily entertaining enough with the mock serious tone helping enormously.  It’s when the archangel Gabriel (Michael Durand) turns up with bulletproof wings and a bladed mace that this overblown CONSTANTINE meets TERMINATOR starts running true to tired formula and becomes far less fun. And yes Jeep Hansen (or the Joseph motif) is played by Lucas Black, the grown up child actor from SLING BLADE.

Alan Jones

© London FrightFest Ltd. 2000-2010
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THE CRITIC-AL LIST
5 STAR FAB - 1 STAR RUBBISH

Alice In Wonderland
The Crazies
Case 39
The Wolfman
Legion
The Lovely Bones
Black Death
Daybreakers
Avatar
The Stepfather
Ninja Assassin
The Descent: Part 2
Amer
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
The Box
2012
Disney's A Christmas Carol
The Horseman
Solomon Kane
Pandorum
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
District 9
An Education
G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra
Orphan
A Perfect Getaway
The Imaginarium Of
Doctor Parnassus
Up
Harry Potter
And The Half-Blood Prince
The Taking of Pelham 123
Transformers
The Revenge Of The Fallen
Antichrist
Terminator Salvation
Last House On The Left
Inglorious Basterds
Angels & Demons
Adventureland
Star Trek
Crank: High Voltage
Coraline
Dragonball Evolution
Let The Right One In
Drag Me To Hell
Race to Witch Mountain
Knowing
Monsters Vs. Aliens
Not Quite Hollywood
Lesbian Vampire Killers
Martyrs
The Children
Surveillance
Watchmen
The Unborn
The International
Friday The 13th
Franklyn
Push
Punisher:War Zone
The Uninvited
Amusement
The Good The Bad And
The Weird
Hush
Underworld
The RIse OF The Lycans
My Bloody Valentine
Bolt
Slumdog Millionaire