"You know, me and my brother, we're going to rule London."

Rating: 8/10 (27 March 2019)

It wasn't until the movie was over while watching the credits roll that I realized the characters of both Ron and Reggie Kray were both played by Tom Hardy. He did quite the exceptional job of portraying the brother gangsters with their own unique personas and quite different looks for being paternal twins. They also shared common attributes as well, the most noticeable being a predisposition for violence when it suited them, and it seemed to suit them a lot. Reggie had a bit more self control, and when Frances Shea (Emily Browning) entered his life, he more or less tried to keep his impulses under control, but situations often demanded that he get involved in a bit of brutality.
It wasn't quite a year ago I first heard of The Krays via another movie that came out about the same time, "The Rise of the Krays". That film also contained it's share of bloody violence, but it wasn't as compelling as this one, so if you have a choice, stick with "Legend". Like a lot of brothers, Ron and Reggie had moments when they fell out with each other, and those times are depicted with some nasty bloodletting. Ron obviously didn't have enough of a personal filter to avoid insulting his brother's gal, and their resultant brawl was one of the highlights of the picture. All throughout though, one is never left conflicted about the brothers loyalty to each other, even when it's confirmed that Ron's condition is certified insane.
The first time I ever watched a movie in which a dead person narrates, I was taken aback by it somewhat (can't remember what it was off hand). But apparently it's a convention that's being utilized more and more often, as Frances Shea does the honors in this story, explaining how she came to love and hate The Krays at the same time, enough so that she eventually married Reggie despite her reservations about living with a gangster. Her death from an overdose was almost entirely predictable, having chosen a life from which there would have been no way out.