Movies, like armies, need a group of people working for them—a ‘legion,’ if you will. And “Legion,” directed by Scott Stewart, is missing exactly that, as well as a smooth plot.

Centered on the concept of God sending angels to cleanse the earth of the human race, and starring Paul Bettany (“A Beautiful Mind,” “A Knight’s Tale,”) the movie looks promising.

The trailer alone shows impressive special effects, including a possessed old woman who crawls on the ceiling and a montage of remarkable angel effects. This is not surprising, since the director has done the effects for films like “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and “Iron Man.” However the movie lacks substance.

The plot follows a group of people who are stranded in a diner in the middle of nowhere during the apocalypse. God has lost faith in the human race, and the angel Michael (Bettany) has come to earth to try and stop God’s army of angels. The fate of the human race rests in the survival of a waitress’s baby.

The movie leaves viewers with a number of plot holes to navigate, as well as many questions about the movie’s characters. What’s so important about the baby that he can save mankind? Why do people “possessed” by angels turn into beings more like demons? Why in the world is the main human protagonist’s name “Jeep”?

While Bettany possesses considerable acting talent and—fans will agree—looks heavenly as the angel Michael, he cannot carry the entire movie. Even Dennis Quaid and Charles S. Dutton (“Secret Window”) get lost in the muddle of mediocre writing. It seems that every one thing the movie does right gets overshadowed.

All in all, the film makes grand, cosmic gestures that hint at the good ideas behind the film’s conception. Yet its ambition falls flat in the end, lost in a wash of soap opera dialogue and confusing statements about angels that are sure to make at least some religious figures unhappy.