The level of intensity and conflict that can be created in movies that centre around a group of people brought together by random circumstances to fend off evil appeals to me. When a group of friends are together, they are usually there by choice. In the case of a group of strangers, personality differences are not tolerated as much because there is no history between people. When you add supernatural elements and stressful situations to the mix, the tension can ramp up as the true nature of people reveals itself. Think of movies like The Mist, Maximum Overdrive, and Night of the Living Dead.

In many ways, Legion succeeds in using this setting but the problem lies in the fact that there is not enough attention paid to the dynamics between the characters. The movie also wants to incorporate a major theme involving a battle in Heaven and an angel coming to Earth to help protect mankind from destruction. This has a lot of potential but it goes off track in the finale with an extended action sequence that does not really belong. Although both The Terminator and Gregory Widen's The Prophecy come to mind while watching Legion, the reality is that they are simply more memorable films. I wasn't bored but there is a lot more that could have been done with the plot and characters in the hands of a more skilled director to move it from being a piece of passing entertainment to more of a genre mainstay.

Paul Bettany stars as Michael, an angel who rebels against God's orders to destroy us and attempts to save humanity from the Apocalypse. He ends up at a rural diner and must protect a pregnant waitress named Charlie (Adrienne Palicki) as her baby is mankind's salvation. Also at the diner are the grizzled owner (Dennis Quaid), his pussy-whipped son (Lucas Black), a lighthearted comic-relief guy (Charles S. Dutton), a bickering couple with their teenage daughter, and a mysterious black dude (Tyrese) with a gun and an unclear background. Things get interesting when an old lady shows up and starts talking trash. When she does a spider-walk on the ceiling and then takes a bite out of one of the characters, the pace picks up considerably. This is when Michael shows up to fill the group in on what is happening and the characters must fend off an onslaught of humans-turned-demons a la Assault on Precinct 13. Eventually, the film opens up with the arrival of a rival angel named Gabriel (Kevin Durand) and a battle ensues as the evil angel tries to kill Charlie's child.

Overall, this is a wasted opportunity. It is a fine flick to catch on a rainy Sunday but is not deep enough to do much more. Paul Bettany has great presence and is believable as the savior of the world but there is something missing from the way the film is presented that takes away from the experience. Bettany is cool and had a calm and confident attitude that you expect in a hero but he spends more time explaining what is going on rather than taking care of business. The character seems slightly weak when compared to Kevin Durand who plays an imposing villain and has a cocky swagger that makes him more threatening. Durand is one of those actors who is never in a starring role (although that may not be for long) but is always memorable when he shows up. The rest of the characters are little more than demon fodder and there is not a lot of emotion lost when one of them is dispatched. From an effects standpoint, the CG is decent and some of the demons are creatively creepy. In particular, Doug Jones (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) is a standout as an ice cream man with a really big mouth. Director Scott Charles Stewart comes from a visual effects background which would explain why they are so well-done. Unfortunately, he also comes from the same school of writing as Rob Zombie and M. Night Shyamalan where cool ideas do not necessarily guarantee a good script.

The first two thirds of this flick feel like a made-for-TV Stephen King adaptation and managed to hold my interest as it is fun and easy to watch but there is not a lot of substance. The problem is that the movie is played very straight and just doesn't rise to the level that is expected of a great flick. The casting of Lucas Black as the character of Jeep is another negative as he comes across as such a lovestruck wuss that it is very difficult to take him seriously as he attempts to take on the hero role. I didn't buy it for a second and found the character to be annoying as opposed to engaging. Dennis Quaid is fine as Jeep's dad but I kept wondering where his career turned from leading man to this. I also found myself wondering how Palicki would have been as Wonder Woman had the TV series been picked up. I wish that Stewart had focused more on the dynamics between the characters as opposed to his grand vision of angels and demons. The load was too heavy and the movie lost its wings before it could really fly. (Josh Pasnak, 9/24/12)

Directed By: Scott Charles Stewart.
Written By: Scott Charles Stewart, Peter Schink.

Starring: Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki.