Lucy
1.5 Waffles!

Scarlett Johansson stars as Lucy – a lady who has every reason to hate men after this run of bad luck. Her lousy boyfriend convinces her to deliver a briefcase to the mysterious and very mean looking businessman, Mr. Jang (Choi Min-Sik), but what should have been an extremely easy drop and exchange for cash goes awry. Mr. Jang has several packets of a new, synthetic drug in that brief case, and he forces Lucy to become a drug mule by surgically hiding the powdery, crystalline substance in her abdomen.

On her way to the airport, Lucy brutally is attacked, and this new, unknown drug is unleashed into her system. What does it do? It turns out this drug gives her the ability to use more of her brain than any human has ever been able to, so she has super powers, and she is super angry!

What will Lucy do with these new found powers, and how fast can Mr. Jang hide?

Writer/director Luc Besson sets up a perfect Charles Bronson-style vengeance movie, but goes and screws it up by getting artsy!

Lucy doesn’t need to be all fancy and philosophical. Johansson knows how to kick some booty, and the film soars when she is at the center of some good action scenes. She even makes the ridiculous dialogue sound better than the two-bit, cheesy dreck it is when you pay attention. Unleash ScarJo!

However, the desire to be more visual is Besson’s curse and blessing in Lucy. At times, the audience can be thrilled by seeing the world through Lucy’s eyes to see pick up on everything she now perceives as she becomes more powerful. Everyone can enjoy some pretty colors and clever representations of the processes playing out in our bodies and all around us.

Yet, Besson tosses in a bunch of junk visuals about evolution, scenes from nature, and stock film footage that don’t add anything to the story. He seems to think everything is a metaphor, or the audience needs it all spelled out very slowly and obviously.

Lucy fails because Besson isn’t as clear with the story as he is with all of the allusions he wants you to grasp. What Lucy wants to accomplish is too mysterious, which is a nice way to say Besson doesn’t explain it well enough and doesn’t make it compelling enough. Maybe a little less time searching for film footage of animals in the jungle and more time pounding away at the computer keyboard could have made Lucy a movie as strong as its lead actress.

I can understand a search for vengeance. What is happening here is lost on most of us in the audience.

Lucy is rated R for strong violence, disturbing images, and sexuality.