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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2015 38 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY St James Cavalier Valletta Tel. 21 223200 Bolshoi Ballet – Gisele 16:00 Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 The Martian 3D (PG) 10:30, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00 Paper Towns (12) 10:30, 13:45, 16:10, 18:35, 20:55 The Transporter Refueled (15) 14:30, 16:40, 18:50, 21:00 Maze Runner: Scorch Trials 3D (12) 13:00, 15:45, 18:30, 21:15 Everest (PG) 16:00, 18:35, 21:10 Legend (18) 10:30, 14:30, 18:00, 20:50 Inside Out (U) 10:00, 13:15 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 The Transporter Refueled (15) 14:10, 16:25, 18:50, 21:10, 23:30 Paper Towns (12) 14:10, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10, 23:30 American Ultra (15) 14:20, 16:25, 18:40, 20:55, 23:10 Hitman: Agent 47 (15) 14:05, 16:15, 18:35, 21:00, 23:15 Trainwreck (15) 20:55, 23:30 Beyond the Reach (12) 14:00, 18:45, 23:35 Vacation (15) 14:15, 16:30, 18:45, 21:05, 23:20 No Escape (15) 14:10, 16:20, 18:40, 21:05, 23:25 Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (12) 14:25, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 Legend (18) 14:20, 18:05, 20:45, 23:30 The Martian (12) 14:30, 18:10, 21:15 Everest (PG) 14:25, 18:05, 20:45, 23:15 Eden (15) 16:05, 20:50 Le Nozze di Figaro (PG) 14:30 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Everest (PG) 10:45, 13:20, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05 The Transporter Refueled (15) 11:05, 13:45, 15:55, 18:15, 21:05 Legend (18) 10:30, 13:10, 15:55, 18:35, 21:15 The Martian (12) 10:25, 13:55 (3D), 17:55, 21:00 (3D) American Ultra (15) 11:00, 13:40, 15:50, 18:05, 20:55 Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (12) 10:30, 13:10, 15:55, 18:35, 21:15 No Escape (15) 11:00, 13:15, 15:50, 18:05, 20:55 Everest (PG) 13:20, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05 TOM Hardy is hot property right now – not least thanks to the stratospheric critical and com- mercial success of Mad Max: Fury Road – and British gang- ster drama has been hot property from around the time Michael Caine sneered and shot his way through Get Carter (1971). Put that all together with the glam- orous trappings of a true crime epic set in the Swinging Sixties London milieu, and you've got yourself a sure-fire winner. Right? Well, not wrong necessarily but… as screenwriter-turned-di- rector Brian Helgeland brings the admittedly ready-made sto- ry to the screen, some wrinkles in this otherwise hard-pressed Savile Row suit of a film refuse to flatten. Telling the story of notorious gangster siblings Reggie and Ron- nie Kray (both played by Tom Hardy), who both charmed and terrorized London's East End in the 50s and 60s, Helgeland's film focuses on the latter part of the infamous twins' criminal career, charting in particular Reggie's attempts to go 'straight' after he meets the love of his life, Frances Shea (Emily Browning) and the drama that ensues as his brother – defiantly homosexual in a time when this was far from the norm, as well as being mentally unsta- ble – threatens to topple their lit- tle empire by dint of his paranoid delusions and violent outbursts. Based on the book The Profes- sion of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins by John Pear- son, the film is narrated through the voice of Frances Shea, and as well as being framed by her relationship with Reggie, it also focuses on the – often frustrated – police investigation into the Krays by Scotland Yard's dogged Inspector Leonard 'Nipper' Read (Christopher Eccleston). First things first: the double- trouble bravura turn by Tom Hardy. Perhaps many will rush to congratulate the evident thes- pian labour involved in bringing two characters to life concur- rently – perhaps even more so when you're supposed to por- tray brothers who exhibit subtle gradations of similarity and dif- ference at equal turn. But more than anything, the impression one gets is all about how Hardy is clearly just having a blast. His outré characterization of the adequately manic Ronald Kray in particular will come as no surprise to those who saw him in what is arguably his breakout role, in Nicolas Winding Refn's Bronson (2008) – a blackly com- ic and formally playful biopic of Britain's most notorious inmate. But Legend is a different beast – that is, a far more conservative one. The familiar beats of initial – ruthlessly guarded – success, consistent internal drama and inevitable downfall are present and accounted for, and if the otherwise engaging-enough dra- ma flags it's because Helgeland, also serving as screenwriter, tries to cover too much ground – a common enough problem with most biopics. It also basks comfortably in the glamorous trappings of the story, and will appeal to all lov- ers of Swinging Sixties London nostalgia. This also means that it doesn't particularly challenge the accepted narrative of the Krays and their mythology, and gives us what we want with bullet-point- ed (pun not intended) efficiency. In this sense, the doll-like Emily Browning is tragically suited to her role. Though her narration creates the impression that she has ownership over her story, and a degree of self-awareness about the flawed subjects she's introduced us to, Frances never quite succeeds in contradicting her mother (Tara Fitzgerald)'s appraisal of her as a gold-digging tart. Still, Helgeland manages to hold the whole thing together, presenting the historical arc of the story with a decent-enough clarity, and using composite characters and situations to good effect when necessary. If Legend is worth watching, it's because Hardy's impeccably entertaining double-performance is a wel- come dollop of madcap gravy over a solid but otherwise for- gettable slab of gangster movie beef. By Teodor Reljic Twin threat on the London streets ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ TWIN THREAT ★ ★ ★ ★ TWICE AS FUN ★ ★ ★ TWO-FOR-ONE ★ ★ DOUBLE TROUBLE ★ BENT DOUBLE FILM Krays anatomised: Tom Hardy does double duty as he takes on the role/s of the notorious London gangster siblings Reggie and Ronnie Kray YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt LEGEND (18) ★ ★ ★