This simple plotted war movie is an unexpected recipe for success, thanks to Van Damme plus a strong supporting cast, solid screenplay, and no nasty “proper gander”! Legionnaire is a genuinely balanced war movie that accurately portrays the injustice of the invasion & occupation of Arabia by the French foreign legion in the 1920s.
Van Damme is his usually self – impressive as always. Strong supporting cast members include Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Nicholas Farrell and Daniel Caltagirone who play Van Damme’s closest friends, as well as Steven Berkoff who plays the unfriendly Sergeant, and Jim Carter who plays the mafia boss trying to kill Van Damme.
The plot is a bit thin and dragged out to cover the movie, when really this movie could have easily been doubled in length then cut to be more concise. It could have had interesting plot developments following where it ended, and then could have been rounded off nicely – instead it feels a bit cut shot. It’s still an entertaining watch for someone who hasn’t seen it in several years – the screenplay is remarkably captivating for such a simple story – but given its drawbacks I wouldn’t recommend rewatching it until you’ve mostly forgotten it. For this reason I rate this movie as below average for a Van Damme movie, but not far off the average.
Again, credit to the directors & producers, and to Van Damme if he had a say, for presenting an honest & balanced perspective on war – a pleasant surprise that I totally did not expect but really ought to be the norm. Legionnaire was a mild box office success around the world, but USA cinemas didn’t to show it – maybe they feared it was too truthful & impactful, to the point it would deter American military recruitment and general public support for modern invasion & occupation campaigns.