Legend Film Review

Although we have had an unbeaten run so far with the beginning of Ridley Scott’s career. We have now reached an unfortunate dud here with the fantasy romp, Legend. Legend is yet another story that seems primed for Scott’s knack for world-building. A film set around a mystical world filled with unicorns, goblins, fairies, demons and forests, thus ticking all the boxes of a Brothers Grimm-Esque fantasy story. It was good Scott territory and seemed promising on paper so, with a heavy heart, the outcome is disappointing.

The story itself - if one can call it that - is set around a princess who is friendly and chirpy and loves all that embodies the world. Whether poor citizens, grass and trees and our central protagonist, a feral youth named Jack, played by Tom Cruise. Who both share a love for each that knows no bounds. The lord of darkness, played in full make-up by Tim Curry, begs to disagree with their passion and wants himself to marry the princess along with ruling and tarnishing the land – cliched motivation! Apparently, two surviving unicorns keep the world intact, and after the princess accidentally provokes them, the land gets blanketed in snow, leaving the land in great danger. When she gets captured, Jack teams up with an elf, two dwarfs and a fairy to rescue her and prevent the lord of darkness from killing the last unicorn and leaving the land in desolation.

Scott has, in the past, created stories and settings that have been ultimately realised. Whether it’s the stripped-down and terrifying nature of Alien, or the vast, futuristic and profound world and pathos of Blade Runner. In Legend, the visuals are there but lack none of what his best work can do. First, the world itself feels very artificial. Everything looks like a set, almost like a theme park attraction. Not to mention the script continually has characters looking in awe at what’s around them to obnoxious effect; rather than a subtle observation of their environment. Tom Cruise’s performance especially is baffling. We all know that Cruise can make for a charismatic and appealing lead. However, here he is reduced to broad smiles and doe-eyed expressions that really begs for the surly portrayal of Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard in Blade Runner.

I had to come to that conclusion of the whole plot point about the unicorns and their importance myself. Since the characters fail to explain how all it works and are there just to say “oh look, pretty, pretty, pretty”. The film feels like elements drawn from other similar released fantasy films at the time, like Terry Jones’s Labyrinth, The NeverEnding Story and The Company of Wolves. The film wants to be on par with all those films mentioned, but unfortunately, it falls short. It doesn’t have the iconic David Bowie led-performance of Labyrinth; nor the hugely imaginative scope of The NeverEnding Story; nor the darkly, adult nature of The Company of Wolves. It’s a mishmash that falls between those elements.

I will give the film this, there are beautiful creature designs that didn’t go unnoticed. Along with Tim Curry’s performance as the lord of darkness. Who essentially repeats his campy performance from The Rocky Picture Show and for that alone, he is entertaining, but he can’t save it. In the end, it feels more like a disappointment. It could have been so much more but instead has an artificial setting; obnoxious performances; tonal inconsistencies and really a pretty silly story. Which makes it seem like Scott was treading lightly. Not a complete failure but a step down from what we have come to expect from Ridley Scott.

2/5