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‘Legend’ long on beauty, short on content
idley Scott is one of
the few directors alive who can
create a new universe through
attention to visual detail alone.
His movies boast a technical so
phistication and unique style
light years beyond most Holly
wood efforts. Production design
has never been used to as good
an effect as in depicting the
otherworldly hell of “Alien” or
the futuristic Los Angeles of “B-
lade Runner.”
Unfortunately Scott’s movies
aren’t known for their narrative
depth. In “Alien” his style man
aged to mask what was essen
tially a fairly routine sci-fi/hor-
ror plot, while “Blade Runner”
was a terrific vision of the fu
ture if not a terrific story.
Given the title and the
extremely conventional plot,
perhaps Scott intended it to be
a generic fantasy but if so, why?
Why tell a story that nobody
finds interesting?
“Legend” takes place in an
Edenic realm where the forces
of Darkness are in constant con
flict with the forces of Light.
The realm is populated by a
pair of innocent young lovers,
Jack (Tom Cruise) and Lili (Mia
Sara), who, like Adam and Eve,
have no knowledge of evil.
Their innocence proves disas
trous when Lili breaks one of
the realm’s unspoken rules: she
touches a unicorn, the legend
ary keeper of Light. This act
leaves the unicorn defenseless,
allowing the minions of Dark
ness to steal its horn and plunge
the world into a state of perpet
ual winter.
M his opening sequence
has an aura of magic and won
der that draws the viewer in
and promises to keep him
there. But then the movie turns
into just another predictable
“quest,” with Jack and his elf
friends journeying to Darkness’s
castle to retrieve the horn and
rescue Lili, who has been cap
tured and seduced by the evil
lord’s charms. It’s the kind of
thing we’ve seen a thousand
times before, and Scott simply
refuses to add any new wrinkles
to it.
He almost doesn’t need to.
The dazzling artistry of the
sets, costumes, makeup effects
and camera techniques takes
the place of storyline in this
movie. It’s an incredibly beauti
ful vision, one of the most tech
nically perfect ever filmed.
Some scenes, such as the one in
which Jack comes upon the
fallen unicorn in the forest, are
genuinely moving.
hike Lili, you almost
want to give in to the movie’s
charms. But after, it’s all over,
you're left wishing for some
thing more.
The performances are as
good as can be expected, given
the one-dimensionality of the
script. Tim Guriy plays the vil
lain to the hilt, even if he does
look like a cross between Beel
zebub and Bevo. Mia Sara also
excels, bringing to her role a
freshness that may herald the
coming of a new star.
Poor Tom Cruise, however,
simply can’t do a thing with the
role of Jack. His is the typical
fantasy hero, pared down to the
bare essentials. Not even
Cruise, fine actor that he is, can
play a character when there’s
no character to play.
In the end, “Legend” can do
no more than dazzle the viewer
with its visual artistry. What
ever promise it showed at the
beginning fades long before the
credits roll. It is a wonderful
movie to look at, but not so
much fun to watch.
‘Hitcher’ shows your
II
other was right
M he Hitcher” is one of
those “either-or” movies. De
pending on your point of view,
you’ll find it either incredibly
fascinating or fantastically re
pulsive.
One thing that can’t be den
ied is the film’s intensity level.
There hasn’t been a more sus
penseful, relentless or gut-
wrenching movie since “Jaws.”
Most of us were brought up
knowing the credo, “Never pick
up a hitchhiker,” and after see
ing the movie, no matter how
innocent one might look (and
they seldom look innocent), I
never will.
•# im Halsey (C. Thomas
Howell) never learned his les
son well enough. While driving
through Texas en route to Cali
fornia, Jim picks up a mys
terious hitchhiker (Rutger
Hauer) to keep himself from
falling asleep at the wheel. “My
mother told me never to do
this,” Jim tells the hitcher
cheerfully. Well, Jim, your
mother was right.
Before long the hitcher
calmly informs Jim that he dis
membered the last guy who
picked him up. Terrified, Jim
asks, “What do you want from
me?” The reply: “I want you to
stop me.”
Jim eventually escapes from
the hitcher but the fiend soon
pops up again. And again. And
again.
As more people pick up the
hitcher, more bodies litter the
highway, and the hitcher sets
Jim up so he looks like the mur
derer. Then the state police are
after Jim with the hitcher not
far behind.
rfhat the movie
amounts to is 95 minutes of
psychological torture. The
hitcher refuses to leave Jim
alone but also refuses to kill
him. He simply kills other peo
ple instead, usually in nasty
ways and usually forcing Jim to
watch. And because the film is
and promises to keep him
there. But then the movie turns
into just another predictable
“quest,” with Jack and his elf
friends journeying to Darkness’s
castle to retrieve the horn and
rescue Lili, who has been cap
tured and seduced by the evil
lord’s charms. It’s the kind of
thing we’ve seen a thousand
times before, and Scott simply
refuses to add any new wrinkles
to it.
He almost doesn’t need to.
The dazzling artistry of the
sets, costumes, makeup effects
and camera techniques takes
the place of storyline in this
movie. It’s an incredibly beauti
ful vision, one of the most tech
nically perfect ever filmed.
Some scenes, such as the one in
which Jack comes upon the
fallen unicorn in the forest, are
genuinely moving.
Like Lili, you almost
want to give in to the movie’s
charms. But after it’s all over,
you’re left wishing for some
thing more.
The performances are as
good as can be expected, given
the one-dimensionality of the
script. Tim Curry plays the vil
lain to the hilt, even if he does
look like a cross between Beel
zebub and Bevo. Mia Sara also
excels, bringing to her role a
freshness that may herald the
coming of a new star.
Poor Tom Cruise, however,
simply can’t do a thing with the
role of Jack. His is the typical
fantasy hero, pared down to the
bare essentials. Not even
Cruise, fine actor that he is, can
play a character when there’s
no character to play.
In the end, “Legend” can do
no more than dazzle the viewer
with its visual artistry. What
ever promise it showed at the
beginning fades long before the
credits roll. It is a wonderful
movie to look at, but not so
much fun to watch.
by Matt Died rich
movie reviewer