Many actors get brushed with the distinction of being great, something I feel is thrown around a bit too easily. Most of our so-called greats today can’t act themselves out of a wet character-role bag.
But not Tom Hardy. Not only was he the only good thing about The Dark Knight Rises, but he’s been showing his versatile chops for a while now. Hardy has been on my radar since Bronson, he made a good Mad Max and most recently he turned me into a serious fan with the excellent Locke.
But Legend? Well, after this he’d better be a damn legend!
Darryn covered the first Legend trailer last month, but since using Flash at the moment is like running naked through a medical waste plant, I can’t compare that with the new one. Still, if you’ve not seen that one, definitely watch this:
Hardy plays the Kray twins, notorious gangsters from the Fifties and Sixties who ruled London. I don’t know enough about them, but I have definitely heard of them. There is even a famous Monty Python skit about the two in Flying Circus. From Wikipedia:
Twin brothers Ronald “Ronnie” Kray and Reginald “Reggie” Kray were English gangsters who were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London during the 1950s and 1960s. 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.
Legend tackles their story and Hardy plays both Ronnie and Reggie Kray. Funny to say this about twins, but I can’t even tell it’s the same guy! Also, damn, they have this ‘double actor’ thing down pat. Sure, it’s been done many times before, but this is so slick… if you told me Hardy actually has a twin, I’d believe you.
On top of that, few things are as cool as a British gangster movie – and the Krays pretty much created that archetype.
Dear awards world, please stop throwing statues at the boring soap that Game of Thrones has become and give Tom Hardy everything. If you don’t, he will act your ass out of the door.
Last Updated: July 17, 2015
SargonTheBatpandaOfTI5
July 18, 2015 at 13:11
This movie looks like it is going to be amazing. I cannot wait to see it.