My quick rating - 5.7/10. This one has been languishing in the depths of my watchlist for years. Until now. Legion sets up a premise that sounds wild on paper: God loses faith in humanity and sends his angels to wipe us out. The only thing standing in their way is the Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany), who turns against the divine plan to protect the unborn child of a diner waitress (Adrianne Palicki). Humanity’s last hope, apparently, comes down to a dusty roadside diner, a pregnant waitress, and a ragtag bunch of survivors.
The ensemble trapped in the diner is stacked with familiar faces, including Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Charles S. Dutton, and Kevin Durand. Bettany does his stoic angel bit well enough, but it’s Dutton and Durand who steal their scenes. Unfortunately, neither of them gets nearly as much screen time as they should. The film squanders them, along with the promise of its setup.
The opening stretch is easily the strongest part of the film. The scene with Gladys (Jeanette Miller)—a sweet old lady who suddenly sprouts sharp teeth and starts cursing like a demon while violently attacking customers—is a fantastic stage setter. I thought it was the beginning of a truly nasty “survival horror” flick. The weird ice cream truck sequence that follows, rolling up in the middle of the night, just adds to the creepy tension. For a while, you think you’re in for something that blends biblical apocalypse with grindhouse horror.
And then, the movie changes gears. Instead of sticking with its horror roots, it veers into action territory. Think shoot-em-up horror crossed with a graphic novel, with angels instead of demons. On a surface level, it’s entertaining, guns blazing, monsters attacking, humanity under siege. But the story is thinner than the desert air around that diner. The dialogue is clunky, exposition-heavy, and often laughably unimaginative. Characters feel like archetypes instead of people, which makes it hard to care about their survival.
Still, there are things to appreciate. The film’s twisted religious overtones give it a unique flavor, and the production design has flashes of creativity. Bettany commits fully, and the action scenes are handled with enough energy to keep you from zoning out. It’s a B-action movie at heart, dressed up with apocalyptic flair. If you take it as pure entertainment and overlook the plot holes you could drive a semi through, it has its charms.
In the end, Legion is basically Terminator with angels instead of cyborgs. It’s not a great film, but it’s not without entertainment value. If you’re in the mood for religiously twisted action-horror with a graphic novel vibe, it might scratch the itch. Just don’t expect depth—it’s all smoke, bullets, and wings.
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