Glorification of two of gangland's biggest thugs...

Rating: 5/10 (10 December 2017)

The Krays are well known in the UK, by the elder generation for the celebrity campaigns that used to nauseate us for their release, and the even older generation for the fear their numbers used to execute to maintain their power.
However, apparently this film has been a huge success in the UK, so the younger generation have had their interest piqued possibly for a romanticism of old school gangsters, which is disturbing, and this film has milked it.
Starring one of the current favourites of the screen, Tom Hardy, he plays both the twins, one seriously but the other other quite cartoonish. I've mixed reactions to it, but the final result is that their vicious sides and evil ethics weren't at the fore. If anything, the love story between one of the twins (Reggie Kray) and his wife is a larger part of the story, which is baffling.
On the other hand, Emily Browning for me was the best part of the film, as the gangster's downtrodden wife, whilst the crime part just didn't work very well.
The settings are stylish, London is beautiful and the police are moral but limited.
Overall, it's quite a waste. Some may not like to say it but the previous Krays movie with the lead two from Spandau Ballet (UK pop group) was far more menacing and possibly closer to the grim truth.
I didn't like this film, it's disappointing, and I'd recommend that you pass on it. But in the UK, the numbers show that local heroes like to be fawned over by people trying to believe there was a fairer world back long ago.