Legion Pilot Review

Although a spin-off from the X-Men movies, Legion appears to be more of a stand-alone story at this stage as all the characters are new and no references to the films as of yet (that I noticed).  

Legion is a movie quality pilot with superb imagery and a well crafted non-linear plot with an extended run time. This run time is required or the pilot would never squeeze the adequate amount of information to tell the story without rushing it and creating a visual mess that would be difficult to follow.
Legion is about a troubled young man, David Haller (Dan Stevens) suffering from schizophrenia and struggling with the lines of reality and his psychosis, not to mention him being a mutant.
The pace of story is unlike most pilots and has more similarities with a first chapter to a movie franchise. It starts slow using visuals to hold your attention through the almost confusing opening but the visuals are stunning and you don't want to look away and miss anything. It's a brave start but the story pulls round all the confusion as it goes on. Bringing a new piece of the puzzle a bit at a time until you're getting a full picture, and then bang, climax at the end escalates the plot of the pilot into what I imagine is the start of the season arc.
​The acting in Legion, from all cast members is grounded and deep. Dan Stevens shines as the lead character giving a perfect balance of sanity and insanity throughout his performance with a switch of a facial expression or a glint in the eye. If the characters are further fleshed out through these performances as the season unfolds, I believe that these could become some of weightiest characters on television.
The writing so far is strong, the script was dialogue heavy but it projects the story in a good direction. The non-linear format in this pilot was refreshing to see and helps tell the story of David Haller by balancing his unhinged mind through a well organised disjointed story that creates a solid picture by the end.
I can see Legion going strong this season projecting into plots of an 'escaped fugitive' and a 'been the chosen one'  with a hint of 'causing a revolution' woven through. I will be staying with this show and I hope you do too as this can only get better.

Mr. Cynic rates this 8/10

For those who have watched this (or will be watching this) and enjoy Stevens' performance then I strongly recommend the film The Guest from 2014, written by Simon Barrett and directed by Adam Wingard.