Movie Review: Legacy

Part of: Reviews in Brief

Actor Idris Elba gives a Oscar worthy performance in Thomas Ikimi's independent film Legacy. In Legacy, Elba portrays Malcolm Gray, a Black Ops soldier, whom after being "given up", captured and tortured returns home locking himself in a Brooklyn motel room after being rescued. However, Gray slowly slips into complete extreme insanity from post traumatic stress and the betrayal that he has faced at the hands of his older brother a ruthless senator trying to become President. We the audience slowly begin to witness his delusions and paranoia as he has vivid flashbacks of his time in combat and all the pain, carnage and death he has caused.

What Ikimi manages to do with the story and Malcolm's character is blur the lines between reality and fantasy, making the audience question what is real and what is fake, while taking us inside Malcolm's mind. Even though the audience is not meant to feel sorry for Malcolm, through Elba's performance we are able to fully see what he is thinking, and thus understand why he goes crazy and does the things he does. Ikimi through his writing and directing does a excellent job in using symbolism to bring us into Malcolm's world, certain symbols that the viewer does not pick up at first glance. Legacy could be considered Manchurian Candidate meets Inception, and those who enjoy films similar to those would enjoy this film.

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Article Author: Kadeem Lundy

I am a freelance writer in New York City. My work has appeared on BET.com, AllHipHop.com,BlackStarNews.com,TheCelebrityCafe.com BallerStatus.com, and DeftMag.com to name a few. My work has also appeared in Black Nobility Magazine.

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