By Ellie-Louise Style
Review on the new film about the life of Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
We’ve all heard of the Kray twins, and their notorious ways during the 1960’s in London. Well this film, Legend, really does capture all of what they got up to, some of you may have thought it was all just rumours, but trust me it was not!
No matter how much violence there is throughout this film it will always keep you on your toes, as Ronnie and Reggie Kray really are two loose canons, and you never know what to expect with them. You can safely say they’re full of surprises!
Minus all of their dodgy dealings you really do get to see the other side to them, including what their personalities were like. In fact, the film captures this very well, as you can see Ronnie’s sense of humour shine through! However, it is very factual as well, as it’s made clear from the beginning that Ronnie does have a mental disorder and is classed as schizophrenic, so it’s quite understandable at times why he’s like the way he is.
However, this film isn’t just about the Kray Twins, it’s also about Reggie’s wife Frances (played by Emily Browning) , and how she deals with being married to a gangster, which doesn’t end terribly well for her. Throughout her struggles you can clearly see that there really is another side to marrying a gangster, no matter how glamorous it may seem to others.
Tom Hardy plays both of the Kray twins (I know it sounds a little confusing), and he does this brilliantly! Throughout the film you could not fault his acting once, and he really does show what the Kray twins would have really been like! This film really does show how great Tom Hardy’s acting is, by him being able to act two different roles in the same film.
Another factor that I must say I actually like about this film is the fact that they use Frances’s voice to narrate over it, and her voice guides you through certain scenes that might not be very well understood by some. Also it gives you a better insight as to how she is feeling at times.
It wasn’t only the acting that was superb throughout this film though, but how they set the scene was astonishing, and I must say they really did get every fine detail right to match the era, from Ronnie’s classic glasses to the whole 1960’s theme.
However, there are some quite emotional scenes, so if you do go and happen to see it (which you should) you may want to take a packet of tissues along the way!
You can watch the trailer just below:
