NateWatchesCoolMovies Legacy: Black Ops is a good one. Like so many indie products, it has been marketed to look like an action flick for DVD, but the truth is something more akin to a psycho – political thriller. Clearly influenced by both the Bourne films and Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate, it reins the intrigue in somewhat for an intimate, starkly paced look at one man who is on the brink of losing both his mind and memories in the wake of a special ops mission gone awry. Idris Elba gives a mini powerhouse as Malcolm Grey, a battle scarred veteran who has isolated himself in a drab motel room, ruminating on a calamitous outing with his fellow squad members to find and take out eastern European extremist Salenko (Julian Wadham). Whatever went wrong sent a chain reaction down the ranks and left them divided in years to come, but we are only treated to unreliable fragments of these events, reflected through the prism of Malcom's broken mind. He receives visits from his squad mates, but are they really there, or yet another illusion dreamt up to avert his gaze from the truth? Character actor Richard Brake is O'Keefe, his longtime friend and second in command, providing sympathy and solid support during the mission we see unfold in hectic flashbacks. Adjacent to this plot is the political rise of Malcom's brother Darnell (Eamonn Walker) riding the wave of an election that will put him in a seat of immense power, but one wonders how he's connected to Malcolm and his past? How indeed. It's confusing to say the least, but never trips over its own ambitions, sewing threads of concise cause and effect throughout it's story, which is emotionally downbeat and melancholic in nature, a stylistic choice that really works in the film's favour. If you're willing to sit, absorb and meditate on a slow burner of a tale that feeds you pieces of the puzzle bit by bit, with almost zero action to be found, have at 'er. I enjoyed it immensely.

bob the moo I didn't know anything about this film when I finally got to see it. Kermode never reviewed it, Metacritic doesn't list it and several other sites I read didn't either. The reason I was looking for it was that I am a fan of Idris Elba – not a fan of all his films necessarily but a fan of what he can do since I am familiar with him from his quite brilliant turn as The Wire's Stringer Bell. The news that the film also had some other HBO actors I know (Walker from Oz, Peters from The Wire, Pulver from True Blood) only made me want to see it more – Eamonn Walker in particular was more than enough. But essentially the reason I came to the film was Elba and other than that I didn't know what the plot was or what to expect. I'll be honest and say I had some worries for several reasons: firstly it is a joint production with a Nigerian company and the few Nollywood films I have seen have been poor; secondly it was called "Legacy Black Ops" when I heard of it and I worried that it was trying to cash in on the Black Ops name since this is a rather large video game at the moment.Anyway, despite my worries I actually quite enjoyed the film and found the 90 minutes to be mostly surprisingly gripping. Starting with a black ops mission that is going wrong we cut quickly to a cheap room in Brooklyn where one of the unit has holed up to complete "his mission". He talks to his video camera alone in his room; he is careful when he opens the door and he rarely answers the telephone. His ex (who married his brother while he was presumed dead) visits him in his room and he watches his brother (a presidential hopeful) being interviewed on TV. The structure of the film means we are mostly in the room that Malcolm has rented but we also have flashbacks to the mission he was on at the start of the film so that, while he follow his story now, we also see what has happened. What is happening now is that Malcolm appears to be trying to make up for his "sins" by exposing his brother's involvement in these black operations and in particular the fraud of a large sarin gas recovery on the East Coast by leaking details to a journalist. Throughout the film, in the time-honoured tradition, the pressure and the isolation appear to be taking their toll on Malcolm and his grip on sanity appears to be slipping.In this regard the film does tread a rather worn path but I still found it engaging. I have seen others on IMDb say it was too long but for me it only started to get obvious that reality was maybe blurring around the halfway mark and it was only 90 minutes long so it did interest me. Splitting the two timelines along the movie means that it does hold the interest in both regards but unfortunately as the film starts to come together it doesn't gel as I had hoped. The ending is far too sudden and the film has not quite done enough with Malcolm's guilt to make it accessible to the viewer to the point that we really understand him – more dialogue between Macolm and his brother would have been one way to overcome this and I was hoping that the scene with them both in his room would produce more spark and more emotion. It still works but the material really needed to be stronger for the second half and I did feel it fell short.One massive reason it still works though is Elba, and you can see why he took this low-budget movie made in Dumfries (Scotland) because the stage is his. Although the material doesn't give him everything he needs, he gets his delivery just right – gradually going from stable to unstable and with plenty of emotions to deliver. I enjoyed his performance a lot and I wish more films gave him the chance to show what he can do because he is a great actor. I know he is also in Thor at the moment and I hope that he can continue to get a good mix of small roles in large films and large roles in smaller films. The support cast are no slouches although they have less to do. Lie to Me's Curnen works well with Elba although she does inhabit this odd world that feels a little less real than it should in the early stages of the film. Peters is a solid presence – not sure what attracted him but he is a good find here. Walker disappointed me in terms of what he had to do – he is a good presence but the material lets him down as he is capable of more emotional range than he has here; like I said, his scene with Elba should have been so much more than it was – not just for the film's benefit but also for theirs as actors.Overall Legacy is engaging film even if you know roughly the road it is going down. The material lets it down by not all pulling together as it should in the final third but it is still engaging thanks in the main part to a great performance from Elba, who really nails his character and convinces in every scene, whether it be torture, action or breakdown.

nunchux I was shocked when I looked this movie up to see that its rating. For a film with a smaller budget it is excellent. Fans of The Wire will be pleased to see Idris Elba in a challenging role. Fans of Batman Begins/The Dark Knight, will recognize Joe Chill and Detective Ramirez. Eamonn Walker plays a sympathetic antagonist and brother to Idris Elba.The film itself takes place after a failed mission and Malcom Gray (Idris Elba) holds up in a dingy apartment alone. As the film proceeds it becomes clear that not everything is what it seems. For a low budget psychological thriller, there is quite a lot of action. Sadly, I think this movie is destined to be under-rated and under- appreciated. Give it a chance, you won't be disappointed.

wake up I had the privilege of watching this film when it premiered in London. It's a real gem, smart, entertaining and guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. A Stella performance by Idris Elba in a role that is fascinating to watch (a man slowly losing his mind). Thomas Ikimi flexes his creative talent with this very edgy film. This film will stay with you and is extremely refreshing when compared with other films released this year. If you like your films' to have explosions and naked women directed/produced or written by Michael Bay then this film is not for You. This is a film that you need to be fully awake and alert to rely understand. It is not a film that you can appreciate on surface value, if you like your thriller's to have depth, character driven plot's and a mental mind game in which you question character's motives, then this is definitely a movie you cannot let pass you by.