Legion (2010 film)

Legion
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Scott Stewart
Written by	Peter Schink Scott Stewart
Produced by	David Lancaster Michel Litvak
Starring	Paul Bettany Dennis Quaid Lucas Black Tyrese Gibson Adrianne Palicki Charles S. Dutton
Cinematography	John Lindley
Edited by	Steven Kemper
Music by	John Frizzell
Production company	Bold Films
Distributed by	Screen Gems
Release date	January 22, 2010 (2010-01-22)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$26 million
Box office	$67,918,658

Legion is a 2010 American apocalyptic supernatural action film directed by Scott Stewart, written by Peter Schink and 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. Eventually, this $26 million film grossed $40 million in North American theaters.

Plot

The Archangel Michael falls to Earth in Los Angeles and cuts off his wings. He steals a police car after a policeman is killed by another officer. He then heads for the Paradise Falls diner, near the edge of the Mojave Desert.

Meanwhile, Kyle, a single father driving to Los Angeles, stops at the diner. There he meets the owner, Bob Hanson; Hanson's son, Jeep; the short-order cook, Percy; a pregnant waitress, Charlie; a married couple, Howard and Sandra Anderson; and their rebellious teenage daughter, Audrey.

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 before she can kill Jeep. While Bob and Jeep stay at the diner, Percy, Kyle, Sandra, Audrey, and Charlie try to get the injured Howard to the hospital, but they are forced to turn back after passing through a swarm of flies.

Michael arrives and arms the patrons as the entire sky plunges into blackness. Hundreds of cars approach, filled with possessed people who begin to attack the diner. Michael leads the patrons in the fight against the possessed, 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 destined 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 huge boils. She tries to rescue him, but he violently explodes into acid. Percy dies shielding Sandra from the blast, and Sandra is driven insane. Meanwhile, the remaining survivors (Jeep, Charlie, Kyle, Audrey, Sandra, and Bob) 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 them 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 shoots down many possessed.

The attack pushes a panicked Charlie into labor. Audrey and Michael help her deliver the baby as trumpets sound, signaling the approach of the Archangel Gabriel. In a panic, Sandra breaks her restraints and tries to give the baby to the possessed, but Michael guns her down.

Moments later, Gabriel enters the diner, seriously injuring Bob. Michael gives Jeep the keys to the police cruiser he arrived in, urging the group to escape and telling Jeep, rather enigmatically, to "find the prophets, learn to read the instructions". The hordes of possessed humans are unable to approach Charlie's baby, so Jeep, Audrey, Charlie, and the baby make their way to the cruiser. Gabriel and Michael fight to a standstill, ending with Gabriel's stabbing Michael through the chest with his mace. Michael dies and his body disappears. The dying Bob uses a lighter engraved "Hope" to ignite the diner's gas main, blowing up the diner, incinerating himself and the remaining possessed.

Jeep's body gets covered in the same mysterious drawings seen on Michael's body, which leads Jeep to realize that the tattoos are the instructions Michael spoke of. Gabriel then appears, 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, Jeep, and the baby survive the crash, but not Audrey.

Gabriel finally corners the three 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, and also gives the impression with everything that happened so far was part of God's plan to test His angels. Ashamed of himself, Gabriel leaves. Michael explains to Jeep that he is the child's true protector and to have faith when Jeep asks if they will see Michael again. Michael 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 station wagon full of weapons, after which the credits roll.

Cast

• Paul Bettany as Michael, a fallen archangel and leader of the human survivors.
• Lucas Black as Jeep Hanson, Bob's son and protector of Charlie's baby. He is in love with Charlie.
• Tyrese Gibson as Kyle Williams, a divorced man heading to L.A. to battle custody over his son. In an alternate ending, Kyle survives.
• Adrianne Palicki as Charlie, a downtrodden, pregnant waitress whose baby is humanity's savior. She is friends with Jeep.
• Charles S. Dutton as Percy Walker, a religious single-handed cook, a former soldier, and Bob's friend.
• Dennis Quaid as Bob Hanson, the diner's atheist owner.
• Jon Tenney as Howard Anderson, Sandra's husband and Audrey's father.
• Kevin Durand as archangel Gabriel, leader of the angel army, and main antagonist.
• Willa Holland as Audrey Anderson, Howard and Sandra's daughter.
• Kate Walsh as Sandra Anderson, Howard's wife and Audrey's mother.
• Doug Jones as Ice Cream Man, a possessed ice cream man who attacks the diner.
• Jeanette Miller as Gladys Foster, the possessed old woman in the diner.

Production

Principal photography took place in New Mexico in the summer of 2009.

Release

Box office

Legion was released on January 22, 2010 in 2,476 theaters and took in $6,686,233—$2,700 per theater its opening day. On its opening weekend it grossed $17,501,625—$7,069 per theater and placed No. 2, only behind Avatar. 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.

Critical response

The film received very negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 20% based on reviews from 99 critics, with an average rating average of 3.8 out of 10. The site's general consensus is: "Despite a solid cast and intermittent thrills, Legion suffers from a curiously languid pace, confused plot, and an excess of dialogue." 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.

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." 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." 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." 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."

Home media

Legion was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 11, 2010.

External links

• Official website
• Legion at IMDb
• Template:Allrovi movie
• Legion at Box Office Mojo
• Legion at Rotten Tomatoes
• Legion at Metacritic