Lucy
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.
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