Not So Legendary (Non-specific spoilers)

Rating: 6/10 (2 January 2016)

The acting in Legend was excellent. The setting and costumes were also excellent.
The problem with the movie was the narration and story-telling. I could not care less about the played out cliché of a woman trying to make her "bad man" turn good. First off a woman who is attracted to a gangster is likely attracted to him because he is a gangster: she likes the power, respect and money. Once you have those things you get the ladies just ask Tony Montana.
The other cliché in mob movies is the cop vs. crook angle which this movie also has.
What this movie lacks is a big score like Heat or Goodfellas or a good sense of proportion like Scarface. By that I mean that you understood exactly where Tony stood in the criminal underworld- he was a big deal in the USA as a major drug importer but was a small fish compared to international mobsters based in Colombia.
In this movie the Krays are implicated as major underworld crime figures but there economic power seems limited to club ownership.
All in all the movie is worth watching based on the genre, solid acting, great costume design etc. The choice of narrator was very disappointing as was the direction which seemed determined to make the Krays seem more powerful than they were. In my opinion what makes gangsters interesting is not their money or influence but their raw physical power, often unpredictability, and ruthlessness. I feel like the director missed the mark by his feeling that if you aren't at the top of the criminal food chain you aren't interesting.