User reviews

The story of the Kray twins is a fascinating one, full of violence and deceit. In Legend, that story isn't really taken to its full potential, thanks to an unfortunately clunky structure despite brilliant performances, good humour and violence.

Let's start with the best part of this film, that is Tom Hardy's performances as Ronnie and Reggie Kray. The amazing special effects make the dual show possible, but within minutes of the start here, you completely forget that these two characters are played by the same man.

Hardy completely disappears into both men, with an unnerving but humorous turn as the psychotic Ronnie, and a more understated but powerful performance as Reggie, and that really deserves some praise.

What's more is that this film does make use of the very violent nature of the history very well. As bloody as it is foul-mouthed, this isn't a pleasant film to watch, but the level of violence does leave an impression with regards to the Krays' crimes, making it seem all the more real, and all the more frightening.

The big issue I have with this film, however, is that it's not an exhilarating watch. Historically interesting it may be, but at over two hours long, it's not something that will consistently entice you throughout.

There are side plots that aren't picked up on enough, some characters don't get the development they really deserve based on the size of their role, and the plot takes a really long time to get going.

The disappointing thing is that Legend isn't a bad film in any way, nor is it boring, but it gives you a sense of growing importance and tension towards a hopefully climactic end, but it never comes as you want it to.

Legend is a gripping movie, there's no doubt about it. Seeing Tom Hardy on screen, whether he's playing Reggie, Ronald, or both, is absolutely captivating. He owns the roles, and despite their identical looks you feel that they're completely different people because of how well Hardy portrays them. Reggie is sophisticated, methodical, affable; Ronnie is impulsive, unpredictable, paranoid. As a vehicle for Tom Hardy's acting chops, Legend is a home run. Unfortunately, that is where the positives of the movie end.

The movie is tonally confused from scene to scene. It can be romantic one minute, ultra-violent the next, then reserved and introspective the minute after that. It's clunky writing; every time the movie begins to gain momentum it trips on itself one way or another. Also, you really don't care about any character other than the twins. I mean, thankfully they're in just about every scene, but they're always surrounded by faceless goons, or with a generic love interest, or no-name cops - not fully fleshed out characters. This is in no way a fault of the actors though. Christopher Eccleston is wasted yet again as a villain after Thor: The Dark World. Here he's in an antihero role as the cop assigned to the Kray's case, but his lines lack any form of personality. He does what he can but he really has nothing to work with. Chazz Palminteri makes an appearance for about 5 minutes total as his usual gangster self, but in the end you're left scratching your head. So many characters, so much potential, but the only thing holding the movie together is Tom Hardy.

So as you can infer, Legend is worth a watch if you're a Tom Hardy fan. He's scarily good in these roles, and two Tom Hardys are better than one. For that reason alone I can't give this movie a lower score. However, if you're looking for substance in a gangster biopic, you'll have to look elsewhere.

The original film about the subject "The Krays" (1990) had Billie Whitelaw as their mother and, somehow, she dominated my memory of the film. Here the twins have a mother but she is, on the film, a distant character and that's what I missed here. I missed their interaction. She clearly had a massive influence in their characters but in Legend, those pieces of the puzzle are unfortunately missing. But, Tom Hardy compensates for any flaws. He is extraordinary, twice. The twins are total individuals, totally two people. What they carry in common is a sort of sexual danger, one explicitly the other implicitly but both as powerful. They dare us to get close. Amazing performance(s)

Tom Hardy is a strange fish as an actor. Famous for being almost incomprehensible in "The Dark Night Rises" and almost equally incomprehensible in his co-starring role in "The Revenant", it's sometimes really difficult to get a sense of his true abilities. Here in "Legend" he gets to show what he's made of…. Twice! Hardy plays both roles in the story of Reggie and Ronnie Kray, the infamous gangsters who ruled across large parts of London in the 1960's.

The film tells the story of the rise of the duo, focusing in particular on the wooing by Reggie of Frances (Emily Browning), the local girl who fell in love with and then married the hoodlum. Reggie and Ronnie – whilst both undisputed 'bad uns' – were as different as chalk and cheese. Reggie was all for semi-legitimizing the business, running deals through his socialite-heavy clubs, and gaining higher-level cover by inveigling his way into control of political contacts such as Lord Boothby (a delightfully oily John Sessions).

In contrast, Ronnie was an out-and-out psychopath with a malfunctioning 'off' button and no button at all marked 'self-control'. An open homosexual – something far more shocking in the '60s than it is today – Ronnie was a medicated loose cannon that even Reggie had trouble controlling. Gathering a posse of 'boys' around him (including Kingsman's Taron Egerton) Ronnie blazes a trail of bloody violence against rival gangs with little regard to the consequences.

On the side of the law was Nipper Read ("Dr Who" re-booter Christopher Ecclestone) as the dogged detective trying to find something – anything – to pin on the brothers.

Hardy manages to convey each brothers' idiosyncrasies so well that you quickly forget that this is the same actor playing both roles. It is only in some of the more interactive scenes (such as a fight between the two of them) that the illusion fails apart somewhat and where acting twins would have made for more convincing footage (unfortunately Jedward were unavailable!).

What makes Hardy's performance as Reggie particularly memorable is that for much of the film - and against your better judgment - you end up rooting for Reggie and wishing him to 'succeed'. (This is more by way of comparison against Ronnie's truly abhorrent behavior than against any absolute measure of 'good').

Browning is also compelling as the love-lost Frances, getting deeper and deeper into a world she has no control over and having to act to extremes of both love and fear. Also worthy of mention is the portrayal by David Thewlis (Lupin from the Potter films) of the Kray's financial adviser Leslie Payne: a man who knows he has the financial respect of the twins (at least Reggie) but is always sailing a dangerous course between kowtowing to them and criticizing their actions.

Written and directed by Brian Helgeland ("Payback"), this is an intelligent British thriller, reflecting a visceral view of the criminal underworld of London in the '60's. Overall, its an enjoyable watch that perhaps - Hardy aside - doesn't quite live up to its potential. A note however for the sensitive viewer: this is a very (very) violent film in places, and a couple of the scenes in particular are hard to watch.

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I have to confess that I could never finish or even forced myself to watch any British gangster films until this "Legend". At first, I thought I just might give it a try and predicted that as usual, I'd quit within 5 or 10 minutes, because 99.9% out of 100, the British gangster movies sucked. The reason why I decided to give it a try was because of Tom Hardy, since any film he played turned out to be very good. And this film, Lordy, Lordy, he was just amazing, playing two completely different persons and characters as twin brothers. This kind of performance is simply at genius level, so good that I simply couldn't find word to describe or praise him. I think Tom Hardy is not only one of the best actors in 21st Century, he IS the BEST! What a great gift to movie history and civilization. There's nothing I could express more.

(Flash Review)

Based on a true story, the twin Kray Brothers (BOTH played by excellently played by Tom Hardy) are hard as nails gangsters who start buying up prime London clubs and casinos by intimidation and force. Their influence stretches into holding some politicians and police under their thumb as their power increases. How far can their lawless activity last? The film is narrated by Reggie's girlfriend as she hopelessly attempts to keep him away from gangster activity. The other brother Ron is mentally unstable and adds a plethora of additional challenges to everyone's world. There are some brutal violent moments (especially a raw and gruesome stabbing), the acting is great and the production and cinematography are stellar.

Tom Hardy gives an all time great performance, double acting as both the notorious Kray twins. The story is also quite comedic, clever and full of some great thrilling scenes. One of the great things about this film is you know what you're going to get, and it delivers, then some. It's bloody on top of witty, charming and fun. Legend serves up one of the great films of the year, whilst also being quite modest in its approach.

With Tom Hardy's already established terrific acting skills, Legend becomes something more then a typical gangster crime film. It feels invested into making the viewer content with its two hour runtime, whilst always respecting. The award for best actor goes to… Tom Hardy, for sure.

I was really looking forward to this one; the trailers were great and, whilst I'm not one of those who glamourise the Krays (they loved their mums, would do anything for you blah blah blah), I do find it bizarrely fascinating how the Krays/Richardsons have passed into London folklore. Alas, it's a bit of a let down. Hardy throws himself into both roles, by turns amusing and scary as Ronnie and compelling as a Reggie trying to build an empire while struggling to keep his brother in check. But he is let down by a clunky structure, it takes a while to get going and subplots and characters are introduced and then discarded on a whim, an awful Frances Kray voice-over, and an uneven script which can't quite decide if it wants to be an American style gangster flick or tread the same path as The Long Good Friday, Get Carter et al. And who let Duffy and her nails down a blackboard voice back in? I really hoped we'd seen the last of her after that crap Diet Coke ad. The club scenes aren't quite working guys. I know, let's get Duffy, stuck a wig on her and she can caterwaul her way through some 60s classics. High five!!!

The infamous Kray brothers – identical twins Reggie and Ronnie – are so well known in British gangster history they've already had multiple films made about them. What writer-director Brian Helgeland brings to the table with his take on the notorious siblings is exuberant storytelling, classy visual styling and a tour de force performance by Tom Hardy as both twins. Hardy's dual turn is undeniably the centrepiece of the movie. His Reggie is all charm and swagger, with intelligence and ambition to boot, whilst the schizophrenic Ronnie is a short-tempered ball of emotional bluster. Helgeland sensibly opts to make Reggie the focus; of the two he is the more grounded one, a gangster with lofty aspirations and the ability to interact on a human level with those around him to make his goals a reality. There is also genuine chemistry between Hardy (as Reggie) and Emily Browning, her fragile yet strong-willed Frances able to draw out the romantic side of Reggie, making his bursts of savagery all the more terrifying. Sporadically placed throughout the (overlong) two hour plus runtime, the bouts of violence bubble with intensity and exhilaration, often uneasily enjoyable thanks to moments of levity sprinkled alongside them. The 60s setting is capitalised on too, Dick Pope's elegant photography giving proceedings a classical feel while Carter Burwell's powerfully soulful score affects deeply at all the right times. There's a sense of glorification here that mightn't sit well with some audience members, however the Krays were adored in the East End and to deny the glitzier parts of their life would be to deny what made them popular to begin with. An exceptional crime picture with two outstanding performances from one man, proving again that Hardy really is an acting… legend.

The second of the big screen retellings of the Kray storyline, following on from 1990's THE KRAYS which starred real-life brothers Martin and Gary Kemp as the terrible twosome. While I enjoyed LEGEND on a superficial level, I found it an oddly hollow viewing experience and not as good as the previous version. The problem lies with the direction, which is oddly inexperienced for a long-time director like Brian Helgeland.

The issues with LEGEND are entirely down to tone, and the tone just isn't right. The setting-up scenes are fine, the transition scenes are fine, and the film is well-shot throughout with an excellent eye for realism and a decent budget. What a shame, then, that all of the pivotal scenes are so oddly staged in a semi-humorous tone. It feels like Helgeland wanted to make the story a comedy, which is the last thing it could be.

This jokey approach to the material manifests itself in the violent moments, which are rather incredibly played for laughs whereas really the raw power of the incidents should have come out. It's present in Tom Hardy's dual role; the special effects are excellent (and have come a long way since Van Damme played twins in DOUBLE IMPACT) but Ronnie Kray is nothing more than a caricature here, a weirdo played for maximum relish by the off-beat actor.

LEGEND also messes up some of the source material, which is a little odd. I've read Reggie's autobiography so have some experience with the facts. For some reason this film plays down the pivotal relationship between the Krays and their mother; the latter only appears in a couple of scenes. In contrast, it bigs up the role Frances Shea played in the story, giving her way too much screen time at the expense of others. Thus at times LEGEND feels like a romance rather than the gangster epic it should be. It's certainly not a bad film, but is it something I'd watch again? Not really - I'd prefer going back to THE KRAYS.

If you don't understand true British underworld history, it probably isn't for you, you won't understand it. Fifty years from now, Hardy wil go down as one of the greatest actors of all time. He absolutely nailed this roll - the era, the persona, just incredible.

Tom Hardy is Brilliant in this and after a while you forget that he is acting both roles as Reggie and Ronnie. Nothing much new in this apart from the tragedy of Reggie's wife Frances and that is the slant that they put on this otherwise well known story, but it is in fact Hardy's portrayal of Ronnie that is most outstanding. he captures the true madness of the man without becoming a caricature.

His portrayal of Reggie was also pretty much spot on and showed how he struggled with wanting to be a successful businessman but unable to escape his violent side.

Without Tom Hardy's exceptional acting though the movie would have been pretty dull.

This film tells the story of the rise and fall of the Kray brothers, who ruled the criminal underworld of East London.

I have to say I'm blown away by "Legend". It's not a gangster film where there is senseless violence everywhere. Though there is some violence, it does not take over as the main theme. The story fact concentrates on the interpersonal relationships of the brothers. It tells how Reggie falls in love with Frances, how she feels after the marriage and the path to its destruction. It tells how Ron can be eccentric sometimes, and yet the strong bond of brothers keep them unless. I find the plot engrossing and engaging. It feels as if the film gives an intimate glimpse of their lives, not just their achievements but their emotional connections well. I really feel for the Kray brothers, and evoking such emotions is something unusual for a gangster film!

The actors playing the brothers look quite alike, but not identical because they still have different mannerisms. Imagine the shock I have when the credits reveal that the two brothers are both played by Tom Hardy!

Excellent acting by Tom Hardy. I can barely understand what is being said. If Tom Hardy wasn't the lead I would have turned it off 2 minutes in.

So I've been put off watching this for so long, because I'm not big on the idea of one actor playing multiple characters. But I will say that this works. Tom Hardy I thought was brilliant and watching this I really admired his acting.

So why only 7/10? Well, if I could do halves i would go 7.5. However, I don't feel it's worthy of an 8 or higher and here's why. The plot. It's a bit flat in areas and the reason being is that this film seems to centre around Reggie and Frances relationship and not the gritty gangster ways of London. Which I'll assume (it's why I watched) most people want to see. Not don't get me wrong you still get elements of it, but the film is heavily centred around the relationship, therefore you don't get enough. I was just underwhelmed. Like I said it's a good film and definitely worth watching, it just could have been done better. And that's why I'm a little disappointed.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

A biopic of the most infamous gangsters ever to hail from the East End of London, Ronnie and Reggie Kray (both played by Tom Hardy), who have transcended East London folklore more than any other. Opening in the early '60s, the film charts Reggie's courting of the innocuous Frances (Emily Browning), Ronnie dealing with his homosexuality in less permissive times, as well as being declared insane, and the brothers takeover of the Richardson clans grip on the local crime scene. But with dogged Detective Read (Christopher Eccleston) on their backs, and their own destructive, excessive personalities driving them to their own demise, it all leads to a shocking, brutal end for both of them respectively.

It's surprising, given the popularity of the British crime thriller and, as I already stated, the unrivalled iconic status the Kray twins have in British folklore, that since they were at the height of their infamy in the '60s, only two films have been made about their exploits, in spite of the no doubt countless crime biographies and television documentaries that must have been shown about them. The '90s film, a much smaller scale affair, had the similar conundrum of casting two actors who looked alike enough to be twins, and ended up with the Kemp brothers, who at the time were still able to ride on their popularity as being part of the recently split up Spandau Ballet. Here, being one actor playing two roles, Hardy, as acclaimed a performer as he is, risks looking silly, adopting an on screen filming style made most famous by Jean Claude Van Damme in Double Impact. But if you can get over this, the film still has much to recommend it.

Telling a true life story, and not to mention a particularly brutal and savage one, inevitably the film will contain more than its fair share of violence, which director Brian Helgeland will quite rightly say is essential to tell the story. But the trick is to show it on screen without 'glamorizing' it, which, sadly, at times, Helgeland fails to do. A particularly unflinching moment is during a hammer wielding pub attack, where the brothers (or one of them, anyway) take out some of their competitors, only set to a rock n' roll backdrop which cheers along what any decent person would find unsettling. The film in general seems consistently unsure of the tone it wants to adopt, flitting between drama, romantic, and even comedy, which it matches with the plot, which lacks any real narrative structure and just plods along, showing various antics from the Krays life without really going anywhere.

Since his double performance is the talking point, all eyes fall on Hardy, who undoubtedly fits the roles better than anyone. He creates more of an impression with Ronnie, whose drawling, rambling and softly threatening persona make him distinctive in the same way as Hardy's Bane was from The Dark Knight Rises. As Reggie, he portrays a swaggering, posturing villain to whom appearance is everything, but in all honesty no different to your standard villain from such a film. I can't think of it as any better or worse than the 1991 film when the chips are down, to be honest, and it would be nice if something more structured and smooth could come along to depict the antics of these most timeless and unduly worshipped of real life villains. ***

Was convinced to watch by a friend and didn't think I would enjoy. Was absolutely captivated by Tom Hardy's performance as the Cray twins! Each subtle character choice was seamlessly woven in and created two completely unique individuals! A masterclass in characterisation and I would recommend any aspiring actors to watch.

The style of filming, the acting, the themes would have made for a great series that allowed us to dive more into the shenanigans of the characters and their lives. Unfortunately too much was covered in too little time, thus it lost a bit of depth.

For a longer series I could se this being a 10.

I gave this a miss when it came out and you can understand why . Yet another Brit flick featuring gangsters and this time it once again revolves around those poor misunderstood Kray boys . I do remember the pretentious biopic on them from 1990 starring the Kemp twins and that was unforgettable for all the wrong reasons with Steven Berkoff giving the worst performance of any actor in any film ever . And no doubt we'd be getting the usual myth of "They stuck to their own . It was business , we were safe in those days etc" so I found myself watching LEGEND as a mere change from the Oscar bait material I've seen over the last couple of days

What the producers and director Brian Helgeland have done is to make a brutal and absurdest black comedy featuring a couple of wannabe gangsters who eventually bite off more than they can chew . Reggie is the brains of the outfit which isn't saying much while Ronnie is the brawn of the outfit which is saying a lot and the film concentrates on Reggie trying to consolidate the gains they make while Ronnie is on self destruct mode while suffering from psychosis and promiscuous . It's probably not a very accurate bio-pic and you constantly get the feeling that the film has take the mere bare bones of the story and rewritten the details to make a very enjoyable film . If you want the true story go and read a book the twins but this approach by the production team works superbly with the first two thirds concentrating on laughs with the tone gradually and subtly changing as the film reaches its end

Some things don't work entirely successfully . Ronnie is a little bit too erudite with an idiosyncratic philosophy and it's difficult to believe he had any knowledge of existentialism or pheromones . Likewise Francis Shand voice-over is often a bit too prosaic to be convincing and is slightly intrusive . There also noticeable anachronisms to the dialogue with words like "Horny" which I positive didn't exist in the 1960s

These are minor flaws however and I can't think of a British film I've enjoyed more recently and with the award season in full swing I'm slightly disappointed that this one seems relatively ignored because Hardy is Oscar worthy in his dual role . That said one wonders if the subject matter has turned off voters ? Saying that the film doesn't glamorize violence and deconstructs the legend of east end gangsters and makes them the object of fun

Tom Hardy is always a pleasure to watch. And now that he has even two roles in the movie you get double pleasure. His acting makes the movie worth watching. Legend is a good entertaining movie about the legendary Kray brothers even though it's more about Frances, the wife of Reggie Kray, narrating her point of view regarding the whole situation. Personally I preferred The Krays from 1990 with the Kemp brothers (from Spandau Ballet) playing the twin brothers. But that's been a while that I didn't watch that one again so maybe it didn't age well. But from what I remember I preferred that movie over Legend. If it was not for Tom Hardy I think Legend would not get the same high rating. He's a quality actor and this role is perfect for him. All in all Legend is worth a watch if you like crime/gangster stories.