Hot male angels
sdwolfpup made a comment that pointed out to me that I've been lax in saying anything about Legion, which I've meant to do all week but seemed to not get around to. I confess, I'm a little surprised that my flist hasn't exploded with Michael/Gabriel slash.
I really enjoyed it, but I think anyone who's seen the long original trailer knows they're going to enjoy the hell out of it, and in a way, you've already seen most of the stuff in the movie that counts. Except for the scenes with Michael and Gabriel at the end -- "God always liked you best!" "No, he liked YOU best!" "I hate you!" "Let's have wing sex and kill all the humans!"
But Paul Bettany really is as hot as the trailer makes him seem -- I have never thought of him as smokin' before, no matter how much I adore him, but he is absolutely scorchingly hot in this movie and as long as he's on screen, it's just a grand old time. And the actor who plays Gabriel, Kevin Durand, has never done a lot for me before, but wearing Gabriel's black armor and wings and staring at Michael with his baleful, envious eyes, he's quite the hottie. There are a lot of other good looking men and women in the movie, but they primarily exist to get picked off or create the backstory -- Tyrese Gibson and Lucas Black, both from the Fast and Furious franchise, which made me happy, and there's also Dennis Quaid being craggy and cranky and Charles S. Dutton being hilarious, and Kate Walsh if she floats your boat.
My big issues are that the pacing is crazy off -- I kind of appreciate that it doesn't have the annoying rhythm of most action movies these days, but there were times I was just so bored, and it's really hard to care about anyone, especially the pregnant chick whose baby is supposed to be the last hope, and Lucas Black, who's got big puppy eyes for her.
It never really makes any sense -- it's stolen most of The Seventh Sign and bits and pieces from everything from Resident Evil to the Exorcist (and yes, Terminator and The Prophecy) -- but honestly, who goes to something like this for sense? We're going to see all the creepy special effects of end-of-times possession and giant-winged martial arts battles, gun-toting angels, and zingy dialog, and on that aspect, it definitely delivers.
Paul is just really, really cool with all the guns and the wire fu, and the being all mysterious and cryptic. It would have been great if they'd ever bothered to give us a reason why the baby is so important, or to give him some more information to impart, but in the scenes with Gabriel at the end, you're just hoping that they'll keep beating the shit out of each other for a few more minutes and then kiss and make up.
It's dropped significantly in box office since it opened, so if you're going to see it in the theatre, you should go soon. I think it's definitely a movie to enjoy on the big screen, mostly for Paul and the guns. But I'm sure going to buy it on DVD.