The film tries to balance that nastiness with a lighter touch, packaging up the story as a doomed romance told from the perspective of Reggie’s girlfriend, Frances. When it comes to the punch, though, Hardy still sells it: a fight sequence between Reggie and Ronnie, which could be straight out of an Eddie Murphy comedy, is both emotional and dramatic, not to mention physically brutal. The result is something so stuffed with period details that it feels a little too faux to convince. On the other hand, it means everything has to scream 1960s to be heard over the soundtrack, which packs in obvious tunes like a Spotify playlist your boss has chosen to put on for an office fancy-dress party. On the one hand, that allows for dark humour, as the graphic violence veers towards Tarantino levels. To match Hardy’s larger-than-life presence, Helgeland’s camera adopts a similarly glossy attitude. That problem is evident throughout the production in both big and small details. It’s sad, then, that the rest of the movie never quite escapes from his shadow. Hardy’s performance – one of the best of his impressive career – fittingly towers over it all. The loud title immediately makes it clear that we’re not in for a low-key ride: Brian Helgeland’s film is a brash, cartoonish take on the famous gangsters, positioning the brothers as monuments of myth, filtered through the lens of Goodfellas and Scarface. It’s a neat study of two halves of a whole: one glances sideways the other stares bluntly at you. Then, thanks to some CGI trickery, he stomps into frame as Ronnie, all pout and aggression. Hardy swaggers about the place as Reggie, as cool and suave as his suits. It’s hard to argue with the logic behind Legend, which sees the actor take on the dual role of Reggie and Ronnie Kray – and sure enough, he knocks it out of the park. What’s the only thing better than Tom Hardy? Two Tom Hardys. Watch Legend online in the UK: Amazon Prime / BritBox UK / BFI Player / Apple TV (iTunes) / TalkTalk TV / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / Rakuten TV / Google Play Cast: Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy, Emily Browning
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