In the early days of modern cinema, it was deeply amazing to have one actor play two roles in the same film—and appearing in the same scene as two different characters. Today, technology has made this perfectly possible and movie goers are no more wowed by such techniques.
But in ‘Legend’ Tom Hardy’s two watchable and somewhat distinct characters may confuse you into believing, these characters are being played by two different people—just that there is good facial resemblance.
As expected when a film is based on a true story, the critics have written out far disconnecting reviews—with the movie receiving as much as 5 stars from some reputable film critics and as low as 2 stars from others. I am yet to see a star but the varying in the praise points to the fact that, these critics paid attention to different elements of the film.
The film comes off as a caricature and well below our understanding of what gangsters are capable of doing; their antics and mode of operation. But considering the fact that the film was set in the 1950s, the huge disparity in the brutality of those tagged gangsters was inevitable.
Tom Hardy successfully plays Ronnie and Reggie Kray—East End London based twins who rose on the back of violence and intimidation to earn enviable street credibility and huge bank balances in the 1950s and 1960s.
Together with their gang-The Firm, the Krays were involved in armed robberies, arson, protection rackets, assaults, and the murders of Jack “The Hat” McVitie and George Cornell—the latter activities ended their freedom on the street and the former fetched them a hell lot of money and control.