By Jon Donnis
December on LEGEND feels packed to the rafters with action, cult favourites and a few welcome surprises. The channel is lining up nine premieres across the month, and it leans into the festive mood with a slate that swings from classic crime to sci fi chaos and full throttle adventure. Three heavy hitters from the nineties sit at the heart of it all. Mike Newell's Donnie Brasco with Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, Paul Verhoeven's wild alien invasion epic Starship Troopers, and Robert Rodriguez's stylish revenge tale Desperado with Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Quentin Tarantino.
Regular faces also get their moment. Steven Seagal steps into the spotlight with the crime revenge story The Asian Connection. Jason Statham brings his familiar grit to Wild Card. Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg anchor the boxing drama The Fighter with the kind of intensity you would expect from the pair.
There is more to unwrap. Gerard Butler shows up in the fantasy adventure Gods of Egypt. Clive Owen and Naomi Watts pull viewers into global espionage in The International. Chris O'Donnell brings a hit of survival tension in Vertical Limit as he scales K2 in a desperate rescue.
If that is not enough, Charlie's Angels returns with the premiere of Season Four, landing weeknights at six from Thursday the fourth of December.
The schedule kicks off on Thursday the fourth at nine with The Asian Connection. Jack and Sam, two American expatriates, rob a run of banks in Southeast Asia without realising the cash belongs to a drug lord. The fallout is brutal. Sam is killed. Jack turns to Pom, the woman he loves, and the pair push back against the gang.
Saturday the sixth hits a similar beat of danger at nine with Wild Card. Jason Statham plays Nick Wild, a recovering gambling addict who sets out to punish the men who assaulted his friend. The hunt becomes messy once he discovers the man at the centre of it all has serious criminal backing.
A week later on Saturday the thirteenth at nine comes Gods of Egypt. Gods rule over mortals, but when a shift in power threatens the future of the land, a young god and a mortal stand against the usurper. Nikolaj Coster Waldau, Brenton Thwaites and Gerard Butler lead the charge.
Sunday the fourteenth at nine brings Donnie Brasco. Johnny Depp plays undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone, who slips into the mob under the name Donnie Brasco and earns the trust of Al Pacino's weary hitman Lefty Ruggiero. The deeper he goes, the more he realises he is blurring the line between duty and loyalty, and dragging Lefty towards a grim fate.
Thursday the eighteenth at nine shifts to conspiracy and corruption with The International. Clive Owen's Interpol agent Louis Salinger works with Manhattan Assistant DA Eleanor Whitman, played by Naomi Watts, as they attempt to expose a bank involved in financing global conflict. Their chase crosses continents as danger closes in.
Saturday the twentieth at nine raises the stakes once more with Vertical Limit. Chris O'Donnell's Peter Garrett climbs K2 to rescue his sister Annie and her team, trapped high above the point the human body can safely endure. Time is short and every climb could be their last.
Sunday the twenty first at nine delivers The Fighter, a true story centred on two brothers trying to claw their way toward a boxing title that might change their lives and heal their troubled family. Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale give the film its weight as they struggle to stay united.
After Christmas, Saturday the twenty seventh at nine brings Starship Troopers. Johnny Rico joins the mobile infantry in an attempt to impress his girlfriend Carmen who dreams of becoming a starship pilot. His motives are shaken after a tragic accident and he chooses to leave, only for Earth to come under attack by an intelligent alien species.
The month closes on Sunday the twenty eighth at nine with Desperado. Antonio Banderas returns as the mariachi who walks into a Mexican town with revenge on his mind. Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino help bring the heat as he hunts the drug lord who destroyed his past.
It is quite the festive line up. A month of danger, adventure and nostalgia that should keep viewers busy right through to the new year.
TV: Sky 148 / Virgin 149 / Freeview 41 / Freesat 137
