Legend (2015)

Legend Poster

Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.

Introduction
The 2015 film "Legend" is a British criminal offense thriller movie written and directed by Brian Helgeland. The film dramatizes the rise and fall of the well-known East End gangsters, the Kray twins. Tom Hardy brilliantly depicts both Reggie and Ronald Kray, managing a double efficiency that catches the unique characters of these renowned criminal figures.

Main Plot
Set in the 1960s, the movie concentrates on the influential reign of the Kray twins in the London underworld. The story is told by Frances Shea, Reggie Kray's partner, represented by Emily Browning. She offers an intimate account of her life and the violence and criminal activity she saw being wed to Reggie.

Reggie Kray is represented as the saner of the two, revealed running a night club and charming Frances while keeping the authorities at bay. On the other hand, Ronald is illustrated as psychologically unsteady, overtly homosexual, and uncontrollably violent, making him unforeseeable and a liability to their operations.

Their empire starts to crumble after Ronald's erratic behavior causes the murder of George Cornell, a member of a competing gang and the killing of Jack "The Hat" McVitie, a minor member of their gang. The murder of McVitie, performed by Reggie, accelerates the failure of the Krays.

Key Characters
Apart from Tom Hardy's standout twin performance, the film features well-crafted characters, consisting of Frances Shea and the unrelenting detective Leonard "Nipper" Read, played by Christopher Eccleston. Frances provides the human aspect to the story, being both the ethical compass and the voice of reason in the madness. She is portrayed as a sweet, innocent lady trapped in a marital relationship swallowed up in brutality. On the other hand, Detective Read mirrors the public opinion about the Krays' crime wave, constantly pursuing them.

Conclusion
The movie lastly concludes with a strong portrayal of the decrease of the Kray empire. The authorities, driven by Detective Read's decision, makes their move versus the twins after McVitie's murder. Both siblings are arrested and, after a well-publicized trial, provided life sentences. In the end, Frances Shea unfortunately takes her life, not able to handle the violent world that Reggie had dragged her into.

"Legend" effectively merges both the attractive and brutal aspects of the Kray twins' lives. It oscillates between depicting the pop-culture charisma of the twins, their lavish life marked by celebrity status, and the extraordinary violence and cruelty of their criminal activities. The movie's significance depends on its effort to deconstruct the legend of the Kray twins, showing the dark and grim realities behind their glorified tradition.

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