| Legion | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Scott Stewart |
| Produced by |
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| Written by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | John Frizzell |
| Cinematography | John Lindley |
| Editing by | Steven Kemper |
| Studio |
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| Distributed by | Screen Gems |
| Release date(s) | January 22, 2010 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $26 million[1] |
| Box office | $67,918,658[1] |
Legion is a 2010 American apocalyptic supernatural thriller film, directed by Scott Stewart, written by Peter Schink and Scott Stewart. The cast includes Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki, Kate Walsh and Dennis Quaid. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group acquired most of this film's worldwide distribution rights and the group opened this film in North America theatrically on January 22, 2010 through Screen Gems.[2] Eventually, this $26 million film grossed $40 million in North American theaters.[3]
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The Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) falls to Earth in Los Angeles. He cuts off his wings and steals a police car after a policeman is killed by another officer who is possessed. He then heads for the Paradise Falls diner, near the edge of the Mojave Desert.
Meanwhile, Kyle (Tyrese Gibson), a single father driving to L.A., stops at the diner. There he meets the owner, Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid); his son Jeep (Lucas Black); the short-order cook Percy (Charles S. Dutton); a pregnant waitress, Charlie (Adrianne Palicki); a married couple, Howard and Sandra Anderson (Jon Tenney and Kate Walsh), and their rebellious teenage daughter, Audrey (Willa Holland).
An old woman enters the diner. She seems pleasant at first, but then begins taunting the diner's patrons. When Howard confronts her, she rips his throat open, screeches that they are all going to die and climbs up the ceiling like an insect. Kyle shoots her with a handgun after she attacks Bob. Percy, Jeep and the patrons try to get the injured Howard to the hospital in Kyle's SUV, but are forced to go back after passing through a swarm of horse flies.
Michael arrives and arms the patrons as the entire sky plunges into blackness. Hundreds of car lights are seen in the distance. The patrons get armed with guns and shoot at the cars as they approach the diner. As the surviving cars make it to the diner, the possessed people get out and start attacking the diner. Michael leads the patrons in fight with the possessed people, but Howard is dragged away. Later Michael explains that God has lost faith in mankind and has sent his angels to destroy the human race. He also reveals that Charlie's baby is deemed to be the savior of mankind, and that it must stay alive if humanity is to have any hope of surviving. Michael also reveals that his original mission was to kill Charlie's baby, but he disagreed with God's orders, as he still has faith in the goodness of humanity.
The next morning, Sandra discovers Howard crucified behind the restaurant and covered with boils. She tries to rescue him, but he violently explodes. Percy shields Sandra from the blast and is killed, while Sandra is driven insane. Meanwhile, the patrons manage to catch a radio transmission revealing that there are other pockets of survivors holding out against the possessed, with one such refuge nearby. However, Michael advises not to go, since they would be too vulnerable on the move.
That night, a second wave of possessed attack, luring Kyle out by having a father and his son show up and having the father run over, motivating Kyle to attempt to save the child. The child turns out to be possessed, kills Kyle, and attacks Audrey, but Michael intervenes and guns down many possessed.
The attack pushes a panicked Charlie into labor. She delivers the baby as trumpets sound, signaling the approach of the Archangel Gabriel (Kevin Durand). In a panic, Sandra breaks her restraints and tries to give the baby to the possessed, so Michael kills her.
Moments later, Gabriel enters the diner seriously injuring Bob. Michael gives Jeep the keys to the police cruiser he arrived in, urging them to escape. The hordes of possessed humans are unable to approach Charlie's baby, so Jeep, Audrey, Charlie, and her baby make their way to the cruiser. Gabriel and Michael fight, ending with Gabriel stabbing Michael through the chest with his mace. Michael dies and his body disappears. The dying Bob lights a flame to the diner's gas main, blowing up the diner, destroying himself and the remaining hordes of possessed.
Jeep's body gets covered in the same mysterious drawings seen on Michael's body. Gabriel then shows up, having survived, and swoops down on the fleeing car. As he tries to reach Charlie, Audrey jumps on him and sacrifices herself by yelling at Jeep to slam on the brakes, sending Gabriel through the front windshield as the car crashes. Charlie and Jeep survive with the baby, but Charlie indicates that Audrey did not survive the crash.
Gabriel finally corners Jeep and Charlie in the nearby mountains. He is about to kill them when Michael appears from Heaven, an angel once more, and stops Gabriel. Michael tells Gabriel that he (Michael) did what God needed, not what God wanted, thus giving humanity another chance. With his angelic powers back, Michael easily defeats Gabriel, but spares his life after which Gabriel leaves, defeated. Michael explains to Jeep that he is the child's true protector, then flies off. Charlie and Jeep make it to the top of the mountain and see a small town in the valley below.
Sometime later, Charlie, Jeep, and the baby are seen driving off into the distance with a car full of weapons, after which the credits roll.
Principal photography took place in New Mexico in Summer 2008.[5]
Legion was released on January 22, 2010[6] in 2,476 theaters and took in $6,686,233—$2,700 per theater its opening day.[7] On its opening weekend it grossed $17,501,625—$7,069 per theater and placed No. 2, only behind Avatar.[8] It placed No. 6 on its second weekend, and grossed an estimated $6,800,000—$2,746 per theater, a 61.1% drop from the previous weekend. The film has come to gross $67,918,658 worldwide.[1]
The film received very negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 18% of 96 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 3.6 out of 10.[9] Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 18%, based on a sample of 11 reviews. The site's general consensus is that "Despite a solid cast and intermittent thrills, Legion suffers from a curiously languid pace, confused plot, and an excess of dialogue."[10] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 0–100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 32 based on 14 reviews.[11]
Nomad of Dread Central gave the film a one and a half out of five, saying, "The finished product is shockingly bad. If countless angles of people firing guns with spent shells clinking to the ground is all your heart yearns for, then Legion may be your ideal Saturday night. Hoping for anything more is an exercise in futility. Spare yourself the agony."[12] Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting.com gave it 1 out of 5 skulls, calling it "a prude film with some potential. It's boring, slow paced and it takes itself way too seriously."[13] Variety film critic Joe Leydon gave the film a mixed analysis. Leydon claimed "Even when the blood-and-thunder hokiness of the over-the-top plot tilts perilously close to absurdity, the admirably straight-faced performances by well-cast lead players provide just enough counterbalance to sustain curiosity and sympathy."[14] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a mixed review stating "As the above description demonstrates, the goings-on in Legion are seriously silly (not to mention more than a little derivative of endless movies, especially the Terminator series), but director Scott Stewart has provided enough stylish finesse to make the proceedings a real hoot."[15]
The film premiered on January 21, 2010 in Hollywood and was released on DVD & Blu-Ray on May 11, 2010.[16]
IDW Comics released a four-part, weekly comic book series titled Legion: Prophets that serves as a prequel to the film.[17]