Scott Stewart
Legion

Movies dealing with religious themes have always fascinated us. I can't exactly say why, perhaps because of the social significance of a subject as obscure as it is everyday or, more likely, because behind it all there is a strong sense of mystery and fear linked to something that is not fully known but must necessarily exist.

Obviously, cinema has always been closely tied to pseudo-religious topics, sometimes with the artistic pretext of expressing its own perspective, sometimes with the more sinister aim of turning it into a spectacle, and at other times with the pretension of "putting the 'lost sheep' viewer back in line." We've seen everything in cinema in this sense: historiographical narration, critical reinterpretation, and even (almost) blasphemous extremism... but like every great genre, this too contains a subgenre, and here, occasionally, a film about angels emerges. Each of us has our own personal sensitivity to such delicate subjects and approaches the scenic and/or artistic versions presented to us with a critical eye; unfortunately, too often they're offered as last-resort discount products. For me, the angels of cinema are those of Wim Wenders, but certainly, we can't expect every author to have the same depth and delicacy... but that's another story.

The movie "Legion" also talks about angels... God is angry (and who can blame Him) with humans and considers that if centuries earlier He had sent the flood to wipe the slate clean, now it’s time for a massacre by killing us all. The angels will be the executioners, possessing human bodies, and like an improvised army, they are tasked with carrying out the new apocalypse. Logically, not everyone in the higher echelons agrees with this. There's someone among them who still believes in human goodness and goes as far as to disobey the big boss to save us all. This is Archangel Michael, who arrives on Earth armed like Rambo and with the rhetoric of Terminator, with the goal of defending the only human being who could lead us back on the right path. This results in a swift and amusing blitz war between the furious angels and a group of people besieged in a dingy diner in the middle of the desert, obviously led by Michael.

Now, this is a representation of angels that I don't like and, I assure you, not because they necessarily have to be good and charitable (indeed, the sacred scriptures have taught us different things), but because they seem to be included in this film simply because it had already been done in the exact same way with vampires, demons, and various monsters... thus lacking, in the same scenic situation, a different element, almost a shock for the viewer. Well, this shock, in fact, does not arrive. Only a deep sense of déjà vu (almost unpleasant) and embarrassment comes (the duel between Michael and Gabriel borders on the ridiculous).

In essence, the intent was to combine two classic clichés from recent years' cinema: the small group of people trapped who reckon with each other and themselves to save their lives against nearly unbeatable forces (in this sense, The Mist and 30 Days of Night were much more effective) and the angelic topic that transitions from poetry and salvation into war and threat (The Prophecy and Constantine were undoubtedly more captivating). The experiment does not work, even though it creates gruesome situations and borderline characters (the old lady and the ice cream man are as frightening as they are entertaining) that might make us forget this film, if not in 3 months, maybe in 4.

P.S. if you truly want to experience shock and upheaval regarding your deepest beliefs, watch "Dogma" and you'll have fun in a decidedly more intelligent way.