Legendary review (DVD) ★★

Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars John Cena, Patricia Clarkson, Devon Graye, Danny Glover, Tyler Garcia Posey,
Madeleine Martin, John Posey, Teo Olivares, Kareem Grimes | Written by John Posey
UK Certification 12 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 103 minutes | Directed by Mel Damski

The latest WWE Studios production, the film-making wing of World Wrestling Entertainment, Legendary gets the company's feet wet in drama, stepping out of the action and horror pools that it's been neck-deep in since 2006, but it doesn't come out looking any fresher, opting to tell a feel good tale of sacrifice and triumph that has little in the way of impact simply because it's so derivative and stale.

With a cast that includes WWE Superstar John Cena, Danny Glover, and the Oscar-nominated Patricia Clarkson, Legendary is the story of a nerdy high school student (Graye) who turns his attention to amateur wrestling in order to follow in the footsteps of his late father and estranged brother (Cena), who he has barely seen since their dad's death, but his mother fears for the worst when he reveals to her that he's wrestling, as it's the very sport that made her first son self-destruct. Seeking out his brother with the objective of bringing them closer together through grappling, the student has to deal with starting anew in a sport he's never before considered, as well as the bullies who litter his road to success. In the meantime, Cena's character wrestles his own personal match against his past and closing the rift in his family.

You can probably gauge from the above gist of the story that Legendary is yet another 'from rags to riches'-type of sports movie that Rocky is the standard-bearer for. Some may find it ironic that a pro wrestler like John Cena, who had never competed as an amateur before training for sports entertainment, plays a decorated former champion, though I would argue that it's a movie and he's a character. The fact that he's one of the biggest stars in WWE history acting in a feature film rather unfortunately leaves him wide open to a barrage of abuse from those ignorant enough to shoot him down no matter what he does, but in truth Cena is not the star and the film is the first WWE Studios production not to be a total vehicle for one of its Superstars. He's in a supporting role and his performance is not as terrible as legions will say. He can act. He's no Robert De Niro, nor most likely will ever be, but he does have talent and mounds of potential. His limited dialogue serves well to his abilities and he's got a great knack for writing his heart and mind on his face.

The film suffers from being far too clichéd and poorly directed, and the script is just about average, but it's incredibly underwhelming when your cast includes an actress who very nearly took home an Academy Award for her role in the delightful Pieces of April. Danny Glover plays a man known as “Red” in a role that can only be summarised as The Wise Old Black Gentlemen, who also opens and bookends the film with wispy-voiced, Morgan Freeman-like narration, which adds an element of cheese to the film. And speaking of cheesy, you can't get much worse than having blaring theme music and pyrotechnics to make for a pretty spectacular entrance to the mat at an amateur wrestling tournament. I mean, as if that would ever happen.

Legendary may induce the odd tear for particularly sappy audiences, but for the rest of us there's not much more than a mishandled and bland tale that's been told so many times before and in far better style. While it's not awful, I can't justify it taking up 103 minutes of your time.

EXTRAS ?? Big Brother is Coaching: a featurette about John Cena's role in the film; Technical Falls & Follies: The Bloopers & Fun of “Legendary”; Welcome Mat: Devon & Tyler's First Foray into Wrestling.