Movie Review - 'Legion'

Legion Starring Paul Bettany, Adrianne Palicki, and Dennis Quaid Directed by Scott Stewart Rated R

Where oh where to begin with Legion? Actually not beginning at all is your best course of action. And, perhaps in a stroke of irony, the film itself appears to have advanced no further than its beginning, the "what if" that sets it all in motion. Because of that, Legion is less effective as a movie than it is as a series of still photographs. Pick a production still, a frame from any scene you like, and it's probably more satisfying than the film itself. Did it have to be this way? You know, it probably did, actually, because from start to finish, Legion cuts with the precision of a spork. The story is tripe: God wants to wipe out the human race, so just deal with it. However, you'd expect him to have a better plan of attack than this, singling out the unborn savior of our kind, which deserves a little more explanation because, well, I thought mankind already had one of those. An archangel named Michael (Paul Bettany) falls to Earth to initially carry out his boss' wishes, and that means killing Charlie (Adrianne Palicki) a waitress at a greasy spoon in the middle of nowhere before the child's birth. But the angel changes his mind, choosing to save the child and, therefore, humanity. God, who is clearly in an Old Testament phase at this point, does not take kindly to Michael's decision, but chooses the worst possible soldiers to help another angel (Kevin Durand) do his bidding, including an octogenarian and an ice cream man. Why do they have to transform into fanged monster types? Seems like a waste of resources.

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New Character Posters for Paul Bettany's 'Legion'

Paul Bettany could have a good 2010 on the horizon. For that matter, so could director Scott Stewart. They've teamed up for Legion, due out in January, and Priest, coming next October. One's a vampire movie and the other deals with the apocalypse. Based on the fact that Bettany's wearing wings in this poster, which one do you think Legion is?

If you guessed vampire, please try again. Legion is one of those apocalypse movie that has some stuff foretold in the Bible, or that's the story. Bettany stars opposite Dennis Quaid and several others, although at Comic Con, all we really saw was a teaser poster featuring Bettany as the angel Michael. Bettany et al are featured in these new character posters that were premiered at JoBlo. I guess technically it's a character banner, since all the shots go in sequence and work collectively. You can see the full thing over at JoBlo, where it's emblazoned with a massive watermark. We'll just give you the six individual posters.

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Movie Review - 'Pandorum'

Pandorum Starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, and Cam Gigandet Directed by Christian Alvart Rated R

I'm not entirely certain it's a good thing, but Pandorum seems to rely on heavily on your familiarity with movies of its kind. It's a mix of science fiction and suspense, the sort of chemistry that has made for instant classics (Alien) and the mostly forgettable (Event Horizon). And again, the film gives bonus points if you're steeped in this tradition. While not wholly original, director Christian Alvart does a few things perfectly, and it's always how the story is told more than what the story is that determines how good a film can be. But it's still a bit of a fixer-upper. The film features a storyline that would have fit Rod Serling's Twilight Zone: Two astronauts, Bower and Payton (Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid), wake up from that terrific fictional innovation that allows space travelers to nod off for years at a time without aging. There are always bugs to work out when movies use this device, and here, it renders each astronaut a blank slate. The amnesia adds a layer to the mystery that awaits them. On a transport mission to the only other habitable planet in the universe, Bower and Payton can't find the rest of their crew. What happened to them and where did they go? How could they go anywhere? After all, this is a lone ship hurtling through the depths of space. There is an inherent problem with mysteries, which, in part, this is at its most fundamental level: You will forever be trying to solve it, trying to outguess the characters. It's human nature. Therefore, some movies try to lead you one way or another so you guess the way the director and writer want you to guess. That makes twist endings easier to manufacture.

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New 'Pandorum' Featurette Gives Us Some Answers

While I still want to be a little in the dark on Pandorum when I sit down to see the film this week, we so often share featurettes of new releases that I thought this would give you a little more background and a few new pieces of video. However, if you want to remain completely in the dark, you may want to skip this video.

Cam Gigandet (Twilight) explains what in the hell Pandorum really is, or at least, what it means. I'm actually glad to have that revealed and I don't think it spoils anything, really. Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster lead the cast, but I've got a sneaking suspsicion that German actress Antje Traue might steal a little thunder here. If nothing else, I'm encouraged by the words of producer Jeremy Bolt, who says in this little video, "It's very difficult to be original [in sci-fi]. What happens in Pandorum I have not seen in any other science fiction film." That's a lofty claim, especially for a movie that's already getting its fair share of comparisons.

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Watch at Your Own Risk: Five New 'Pandorum' Clips

I hesitated before posting these clips, not because they're frightening or anything, but because I think Pandorum has done such a good job keeping its intentions a secret all year long. But I watched 'em first, and I have to say, I still don't have much of an idea of what the hell is going on. I mean, I could try connecting the dots, but it's not a clear case.

Now, that could be a bad thing. It's possible the movie just makes no damn sense, so even if these were in context, the clips might not add up to much. I hope that's not the case and that they've just carefully picked clips that add to the mysterious nature of the sci-fi/horror flick. Only the last two clips we're featuring reveals much at all, but I think the other three are safe. So, if you want to remain isolated from all this stuff, then move on. However, you do get a good sense of how director Christian Alvart pictures this dark future, so it might be worth looking at one or two of these for that reason.

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