Legend
Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 20, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
15
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 21, 2015
Hardy, it seems, is an ecosystem of love and hate and betrayal and madness unto himself. The rest of Legend just can’t keep up. Read full review
60
CineVueJoe WalshSep 8, 2015
Legend crucially lacks almost any sense of gravitas, although the bold and brash approach does keep you entertained. Read full review
60
The TelegraphHelen O'HaraSep 3, 2015
While he arguably fails to rein in his leading man (or half of him), screenwriter-turned-director Helgeland has a light touch, leavening the ultra-violence – and there are gory scenes – with a flair for absurdity. Read full review
60
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganSep 3, 2015
It’s easy to buy Hardy’s dual performance, and it doesn’t get in the way of the film – although some actor-ly exuberance in the delivery of Ronnie can sound an off-note, with Hardy using some facial prosthetics around the jaw line which aren’t particularly subtle. Read full review
58
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonSep 9, 2015
It’s worth the price of admission just to see Hardy’s Reggie performance, which is up among his best work. Still, the story could have perhaps used a more inspired hand at the helm. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 3, 2015
Legend seems like a movie Scorsese might have made if he wasn’t paying attention - the elements are present but they are clumsily assembled and the outcome underwhelms. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanNov 24, 2015
Hardy is extraordinarily good at evoking the fraught fraternal connection between the Krays.... But the film is ultimately unable to plumb the Krays’ deepest souls, if they even have any. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianJeff BakerNov 24, 2015
Legend offers two Hardys for the price of one but delivers less than a satisfying whole despite the efforts of its star(s). Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesNov 24, 2015
Mostly Legend just lurches. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenNov 19, 2015
As told by Helgeland this Legend simply isn't memorable, because a tremendous effort by Hardy is let down by unfocused storytelling. Read full review
50
TheWrapRobert AbeleNov 19, 2015
Hardy’s virtuosity saves the picture’s artificiality at nearly every turn. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedNov 18, 2015
The script may be flawed and the narrative storytelling mechanical, but the period details are fascinating, the camerawork swaggers across a maze of squalid row houses and nightclub floors with visual velocity, and whenever either one Tom Hardy (or both) is onscreen, Legend is engrossing stuff indeed. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony LaneNov 16, 2015
The movie was written and directed by Brian Helgeland, whose screenplay for “L.A. Confidential” (1997) won an Oscar — deservedly so, for the skein of plot required a steady hand. Legend, by contrast, pummels us into believing that it has a plot, where none exists. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeSep 3, 2015
It’s a disappointingly shallow take on a fascinating period of time and leaves us sorely uninformed, as if we’ve skim-read a pamphlet. The legend might live on but Legend certainly won’t. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinSep 3, 2015
This ungainly portrait strikes a lot of poses, as if inviting the viewer to admire its impressive cast list, fine period detailing, "cheeky" British humor, and insouciant attitude towards violence. But none of it disguises the fact that the film is also tonally incoherent, vacuous and structurally a bleedin' mess. Read full review
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