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
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamSep 8, 2015
It’s flawed, yes – Frances is frustratingly underwritten, her psychological fault lines spoken of but never shown – but it’s also swaggeringly cinematic. And it has Tom Hardy vs Tom Hardy. Read full review
80
EmpireDan JolinSep 8, 2015
Helgeland’s savvy new take on this well-known story proves that crime can pay, while Hardy is astonishing and magnetic in two truly towering performances. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounSep 3, 2015
In what is surely his finest hour, Tom Hardy plays both brothers. Much more than a gimmick, it’s like watching one side of a mind wrestle with the other – literally, in one explosive, fun-to-unpick fight scene. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 8, 2015
Tom Hardy manages the brilliant trick of playing two physically, emotionally and intellectually distinct mobster brothers in Legend. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyKevin P. SullivanNov 18, 2015
The film’s saving grace is Hardy, who is as ferocious and watchable as ever, acting smooth and brooding as Reggie and unhinged as Ronnie. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 19, 2015
Tom Hardy and Tom Hardy are the reasons to see Legend. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlNov 17, 2015
Legend reminds us how easily a pretty star can get us to feel for people we'd deplore in real life — a monster's a monster, no matter how big its heart or soulful its strut. Read full review
70
VarietyGuy LodgeSep 3, 2015
For all Hardy’s expressive detail and physical creativity, Helgeland’s chewy, incident-packed script offers little insight into what made either of these contrasting psychopaths tick, or finally explode. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayNov 18, 2015
When the two Krays are in the same room, circling each other with a mix of fraternal affection and deep loathing, Legend is as heady and unforgettable as it means to be. The rest of the time, it’s a movie with a lot of good points, but no connecting line. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 25, 2015
The good news: Hardy creates two memorable characters, making some bold and always entertaining if not entirely successful choices. The bad news: Somehow, the fictionalized version of the terrifying, violent and twisted Krays manages to be pedestrian and derivative for long stretches. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 24, 2015
Legend is more than a gimmick, but not quite enough. The movie’s a testament to the Krays’ ability to get away with everything — for a while, anyway. But it’s better evidence of Tom Hardy’s ability to do just about anything. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonNov 24, 2015
Working from his own screenplay, director Brian Helgeland clearly has a feel for the Krays’ criminal milieu, but it’s not long before repetition sets in. There’s only so much brutality that even the most bloodthirsty audience can tolerate. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 19, 2015
Helgeland's script is hit-and-miss, not on the Oscar-winning level of his L.A. Confidential. Still, Hardy is a show all by himself, an actor flying without a net and having a ball. You will too. Read full review
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