Legend (2015) The Notorious True Story of the Kray Twins

From the WWW:  Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray (Tom Hardy) 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

The start of the movie with Frances narrating reminded me of the stories narrated beyond the grave like AMERICAN BEAUTY and some others, but they weren't biopics. 

If you followed the lives of Ronnie and Reggie Kray, you would know that Reggie's young bride killed herself in the 1960s at the age of 24. More than thirty years later, one of the twins died and a little later, the other died too(just more than a decade ago) so you would really wonder why Frances was narrating the story.

The first parts of the story were quite dragging for me, but apparently, not for the rest of the audience.  They were snickering because of some of the things Reggie were uttering either sarcastically or sardonically.  They found brutality funny.

Some of the undertones were probably humorous, but...

If I were to compare this to other biopics, even if it were not as gory as BLACK MASS, I would say I like Johnny Depp's movie more than this one, but for gangster movie aficionados, it is worth their time.

For all it is worth, acting wise, Tom Hardy NEVER disappoints.

The rest of the gang did well too.

For technical aspects/reviews please click these links:

Variety

A portrait of East End gangsters the Kray twins (Hardy and Hardy) at their peak, through the eyes of Reggie Kray's wife Frances (Browning).

RollingStone

The Different Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes

Director: Brian Helgeland

Running time: 2h 11m

Music composed by: Carter Burwell

Screenplay: Brian Helgeland

Based on The Profession of Violence 

by John Pearson

CAST

Tom Hardy as Ronald "Ronnie" Kray and Reginald "Reggie" Kray

Identical twins who terrorised London during the 1950s and 1960s.

Emily Browning as Frances Shea

The wife of Reggie Kray. She met Kray at 16 and wed him aged 22 in 1965. She committed suicide in 1967, and narrates the film from beyond the grave.

Christopher Eccleston as Leonard "Nipper" Read

A Detective Superintendent in charge of taking down the Krays.

David Thewlis as Leslie Payne

The Krays' business manager. He considered himself a cultured man and he was sickened by the twins' violence.

Taron Egerton as Edward "Mad Teddy" Smith

A psychopathic gay man rumoured to have had affairs with Ronnie.

Chazz Palminteri as Angelo Bruno

The head of the Philadelphia crime family and friend and business associate to Ronnie and Reggie.

Paul Bettany as Charlie Richardson

Charlie and his brother Eddie were childhood friends of the Krays and the leaders of a notorious south London gang (also known as the Torture Gang), which had a feud and war with the Krays' gang 'The Firm' during the 1960s.

Colin Morgan as Frankie Shea

Reggie's driver at the Kray Firm, and older brother of Frances. Described as a "young and very good-looking man."

Tara Fitzgerald as Mrs. Shea

Frances and Frankie's mother.

Aneurin Barnard as David Bailey

A fashion photographer in the early 1960s.

Paul Anderson as Albert Donoghue

The gofer of Ronnie and Reggie Kray, and Reggie's chief lieutenant.

Duffy as Timi Yuro

Kevin McNally as Harold Wilson

Alex Giannini as Antonio Caponigro