Rated R for strong bloody violence, and language.
Directed by Scott Stewart
Starring Paul Bettany, Tyrese Gibson and Dennis Quaid
I wanted this to be good so bad…but it was so bad.
An out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race. When God loses faith in humankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity's only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a desert diner with the Archangel Michael (Bettany).
How ‘bout that for a premise? The opening and closing line of the movie states that ‘God grew tired of all the bull%@#*’. And according to the movie He destroyed the earth with water the first time…this time he is using His angels. So besides being completely heretical, the “good” angels look and act a lot more like demons – possessing a little old lady, an ice cream man and a bunch of other people. So instead of an epic battle between a legion of winged angels and humans we get one newly fallen angel and a few humans against a bunch of zombie-like possessed people that don’t seem to have any special abilities (except for climbing walls and looking creepy). In fact all it takes is a single bullet to kill them. If you are wondering if the rest of the story is just as bad – it is.
All of this is because of a baby that is “the hope for mankind”…yeah it’s that vague. They never really explain it more than that and I’m assuming because they didn’t think it through more than that. Michael is there to protect him or kill him, I’m not sure even the director himself was clear on that one.
The cast is pretty forgettable except for Dennis Quad…as much as I’m trying – I can’t forget how bad he was in this one. On the other hand, Paul Bettany and Kevin Durand (as Gabriel…yeah Gabriel) are not that bad. Ever since reading Frank Peretti’s classic (yeah I’m calling it a classic) “This Present Darkness,” I have been fascinated by angels in films. Director Scott Stewart makes them strong, smart and very cool looking. And once they face off…it’s a battle for the ages…I wish. Instead he makes another huge mistake. The fight scene was very short, very choppy and very anti-climatic.
Ugh, don’t make me go on. Legion had a rookie director with a bad script, and although he had some star power in the cast – it’s still a “Coaster.”
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Besides filling their heads with a lot of confusing theology, the violence and scary images are enough to make me say No.
Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they have actually already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
