Legendary
September. 09,2010 PG-13A book-smart teenager joins his school's wrestling team as a way to reunite his surviving family members, who split apart after the death of his father, a college wrestling legend, 10 years ago.
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Reviews
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
The movie starts off with a requisite underdog that comes in the form of Cal Chetley (Devon Graye), a 135-pound Oklahoma teenager with a love for science, glasses and a best friend who might as well be called Dweeby McArgyle. Enter bullies, stage left. Partly due to his tormentors and also because Cal is part of a wrestling dynasty - - both his estranged brother and his late father were mega-champs -- he decides that he, too, will hit the mat. As it turns out, and it always does, Cal isn't very talented. But if there's one clear takeaway from any good sports movie, it's that only one thing stands between a dismal athlete and a golden trophy; young grasshoppers just need a mentor. That would be the aforementioned brother, Mike, played by WWE superstar John Cena. Wrestling fans will no doubt flock to see this WWE film and won't be disappointed by Cena's entrance.The movie's main theme and message means well, but the acting performance and the structure of the script is sub-poor and shows lackadaisical effort. Using a sport's star in the movie to mask the poor acting and script failed. The movie is very predicable and cliché, and gives no cliffhangers or intriguing events. The actors looked awkward and unnatural. The movie gives no events to pull the viewers in, and new actors and a new structure is well needed to create a more meaningful and intense movie. Also, Not nearly cinematic enough or well-written enough to take that lazy of a step that so often separates "inspirational" and "hokey."his film is quite predictable, formulaic, and far from original, yet it is well- meaning, inspirational, and I actually sorta liked it. It's flawed enough to where I don't feel quite comfortable enough to give it an extra half star, but I did enjoy it, and think that there are a few scenes that are okay enough to watch. At the end, the actors, (including John Cena) show and have little acting experience, which shows up into the movie. The plot it self is poorly structured and entertaining, while trying to force a inspirational moral and theme into the movie; reselling in a sub- poor movie.
Cal Chetley (Devon Graye) is a 135lb beanpole high school nerd getting bullied by fellow student Billy Barrow (Tyler Posey). He lives with his widowed mother Sharon (Patricia Clarkson). His older brother Mike (John Cena) is struggling and mostly absent. Mike and father were champion wrestlers and Cal wants to start wrestling. Sharon is not happy blaming the lost of her family and Mike specifically to wrestling. The next door neighbor girl Luli (Madeleine Martin) is completely infatuated with Cal.This being a WWE movie. The biggest question for this is the acting ability of John Cena. While he can walk and talk, he doesn't have the nuance of emotional acting. He is just outclassed by Patricia Clarkson in their scenes. Devon Graye is not a great actor either, at least not yet. He needs to be much better as the lead. Madeleine Martin steals her scenes whenever she's on the screen. She has a spunky wacky character to play with. The story is very bland and unimaginative. It has no surprises or originality. This is strictly an after-school special TV movie.
In the years that John Cena did The Marine he's apparently taken a few acting lessons. He does handle dialog with a minimum of credibility now though he did not have scenes with Danny Glover and only one with Patricia Clarkson. Legendary is a nice, but hardly great family film and like Cena's other cinematic venture, produced by Vince McMahon who also produces his other acting gigs. He's from a wrestling family, his father was a state champion who was killed in a car crash and Cena's been at loose ends since, drifting from job to job and drinking more than he ought.He's got a little brother that mom Patricia Clarkson is raising in the person of Devon Graye. Legendary's biggest problem is that you can hardly wrap your mind around the concept that Graye and Cena are brothers. Graye's the proverbial 98 pound weakling, but that's something of an exaggeration and fortunately for Graye if he goes out for high school wrestling there will be a weight class for him.It's interesting also to see a pro wrestler in a film about wrestling as a real sport. But those guys with their attitudes you see on Smackdown learned their business doing what you see in Legendary.Legendary is a nice if not great family film definitely one to rent for the kids.
I only just saw this today and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Cena is good and doesn't over play his part or look out of place with some very fine actors in support. The film has a good story and is well, acted I'm just afraid that many people will be put off by the wwe connection but shouldn't be. This a great film for anyone with or without an interest in wwe but if you do have an interest i recommend you buy the special edition 2 disc set as it has some great moments of wrestling history on it. Nice to see WWE films branching out and finely a credible role for the ever more versatile Cena who i see having a great future in films.