Legion

Movies about small groups of people threatened by some malevolent force in a confined area are commonplace, but in this feature from director Scott Stewart, the attacking force isn't comprised of extraterrestrials, zombies or mutants, but rather angels sent to Earth (specifically, an isolated desert truck stop) in order to possess folks who will serve as instruments to eradicate the human race. Wrapping its moth-eaten story in a wacky religious framework, the script has God tiring of man's misconduct and deciding to wipe out the disappointing species. But a special case—killing the unborn child of an unmarried waitress working in the truck stop diner—requires the personal attention of Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany), who rebels against the horrible task, choosing to protect the child instead, since he knows the baby is actually a second Jesus destined to lead humanity back on to the righteous path. Michael arms the diner's owner and patrons with weapons to fend off the murderous angel-possessed mob until the Archangel Gabriel himself (Kevin Durand) arrives in full heavenly regalia to do battle with Michael and finish the job. Legion's purely action-oriented mayhem is presented in contemporary ultraviolent video game style, and—to be honest—there's some campy fun to be had in watching two guys with wings whacking each other with swords and maces. But the story's combination of horror-movie cliché and pseudo-religious mumbo-jumbo ultimately adds up to a holy mess. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include production featurettes on “Creating the Apocalypse: Behind the Physical Effects” (24 min.), “Humanity's Last Line of Defense” on cast and characters (12 min.), “From Pixels to Picture” on visual effects (11 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are a “Bringing Angels to Earth” picture-in-picture track with director Scott Stewart, the “movieIQ” trivia track, and the BD-Live function, along with a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a lame film.] (F. Swietek)