Subject: Retrospective: Legend (1985)

From: Jerry Saravia <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 18:48:57 -0000

LEGEND (1985)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Two stars 
June 16th, 2002

Like most Ridley Scott films, "Legend" is far and away one of the most 
beautifully crafted films in eons, but in terms of story, it is extremely 
hollow and that can spell danger for a fairy tale of this kind. Feeling like 
a compendium of fairy tales and magical tales like "The Lord of the Rings" 
and Grimm's stories, it offers much to be excited by but little to be moved 
or inspired by. 

"Legend" begins with Lil (Mia Sara), a young woman who represents innocence 
and who is deeply in love with Jack (Tom Cruise, in his first long-haired 
role), a forest dweller. They live in a land of innocence, and everything is 
in bright, beatific colors with the sun shining brightly everywhere. Lilies 
and flowers and tremendous trees fill the area. Unicorns run through the 
misty waters. Nothing could ever upset this idyllic view, but something 
inevitably does. There is the prince named the Lord of Darkness (Timn Curry) 
who wants to shut the sunlight from this land forever. He gets help from 
snickering, ugly creatures with big snot-noses to turn the cheery countryside 
into a land of gloom and doom. And the one code to live by in this world is 
to never kill a unicorn but the creatures successfully manage to do just 
that, causing storms and inclement weather to destroy the serenity. 

But this is not enough of a story to make a film of such beauty to work. We 
see fascinating creatures of every size and shape, we see the customary 
gnomes, fairies, elves, goblins, unicorns and so on, but little here stirs 
our imagination or involvement. The main human characters, Jack and Lil, are 
given little depth or any real emotions - they seem to be replicants from 
director Scott's own "Blade Runner." Whatever love story exists is lost since 
Cruise and Sara have no durable rapport. The special-effects and the dazzling 
cinematography take precedence over story and character development. 

It is a shame really because "Legend" has some bravura moments. I especially 
like how Lil approaches a unicorn in one scene, or the dance sequence where 
Lil is possessed into loving Darkness (a deleted scene from the European 
version). There is plenty to admire and Scott is effecient at creating a 
strange new world. Someday, he may put a little more effort into the people 
that inhabit such a world. 

Post any comments, thoughts or general complaints at 
http://moviething.com/members/movies/faust/forum.shtml or email me at 
[email-masked]

For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at 
http://moviething.com/members/movies/faust/JATMindex.shtml

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