Lucy (2014) [Blu-ray]
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline: The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%.

From the visionary director of La Femme Nikita and The Professional and starring Scarlett Johansson and Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman comes an action-thriller about a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors. Altered by a dangerous new drug allowing her to use 100% of her brain capacity, Lucy transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.

Storyline: It was supposed to be a simple job. All Lucy had to do was deliver a mysterious briefcase to Mr. Jang. But immediately Lucy is caught up in a nightmarish deal where she is captured and turned into a drug mule for a new and powerful synthetic drug. When the bag she is carrying inside of her stomach leaks, Lucy's body undergoes unimaginable changes that unlocks her mind's full potential 100%. With her new-found powers, Lucy turns into a merciless warrior intent on getting back at her captors. She receives invaluable help from Professor Norman, the leading authority on the human mind, and French police captain Pierre Del Rio. Written by LeiaSolo

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, January 16, 2015 -- Writer/director Luc Besson's Lucy embraces its high octane junk science with slick style, rapidfire action and a bit of quasi-cerebral scene-chewing that manage to distract from the fact that the story doesn't make any sense. Not a lick. And it gets away with it too, if only by the skin of its teeth, thanks to everything from Besson's enthusiasm for the material to Scarlett Johansson's surprisingly entrancing performance, Min-sik Choi's villainous turn as a ruthless gangster, and a little bomb called Transcendence (2014), which was so bland and disappointing that it's since rendered any similarly themed film that much more refreshing. (Particularly those that also co-star Morgan Freeman.) Cheap shots aside, though, Lucy is a blast from unsettling start to reality-bending finish; an uneven, occasionally slapdash blast, but a blast all the same. Providing, that is, you don't mind switching off your critical cortex, gobbling down a tub of popcorn and topping it off with a frothy mug of Big Dumb Fun.

From La Femme Nikita and The Professional to The Fifth Element, filmmaker Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinema. Now, Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, which tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors. Altered by a dangerous new drug allowing her to use more than 10% of her brain capacity, Lucy transforms into a merciless warrior that evolves beyond human logic and develops powers beyond her enemies' wildest imaginations.

Alright, alright. Let's tackle the beastie in the room. Neuroscientists scoff at the widely accepted notion that humans only use 10% of their brains because it's entirely devoid of truth. As myths go, it's a whopper; one that's been debunked again and again and again, yet somehow, by some strange, unscientific dark magic, continues to persist well into the 21st century. Its latest victim is Besson, though he's hardly the first filmmaker to run with the idea. (Neil Burger's Limitless is one of the more recent offenders.) But this is the movies, and in movies fact can be sidestepped, subverted or ignored altogether because... movies. Besson at least buys into it wholeheartedly, making Freeman's wince-inducing brain-capacity exposition -- presented as a lecture to a room of students and colleagues that hang on his every easily dismissible word -- a bit more tolerable. From there, a wicked drug overdose of synthetic CPH4 (its origins revealed via additional exposition later in the film) leads to Lucy becoming a near- invincible demigod, capable of controlling matter, electronic signals and, eventually, time itself. Why? Haven't you learned to stop asking why yet? There is no good why. Besson gives it a stab, but dwelling on his explanations only stretches the plot holes that are already determined to spoil the fun. Don't ask. Take the blue pill. Enjoy the simulation. Reality is boring.

Where does that leave us? After a chilling introduction to Lucy's Big Bad, the unflinching Mr. Jang, Johannson, Min-sik, and Amr Waked (as a French police officer caught up in Lucy's quest to obtain three more bags of CPH4) elevate dim- witted high concept drivel to captivating stuff, offering performances that are far more effective than the film probably deserves. Johannson is obviously presented with the greatest challenge, although not for the reasons you might suspect from Lucy's spoilerific theatrical trailers (which, true to their descriptor, really do spoil all the best bits). Stripped of emotion, she's essentially placed on a very narrow, increasingly inhuman path and asked to create a character struggling to retain her humanity while rejecting all its limitations. No small feat, and one she pulls off with quiet, careful calculation. Then there's Min-sik (the finest Besson Bastard since The Professional's Gary Oldman), who sinks his incisors into every minute of screentime, delivering an unforgettable nightmare of a comicbook gangster; the sort of monster who strolls out of a makeshift hotel kill room, spattered in blood, cool as a cucumber, and leaves you shifting in your seat every time he flicks his wrist at a minion or lifts his lip into a sneer. Waked thanklessly rounds out the trio in a smaller role, as the straight man gawking at Lucy's newfound powers, but it does its job, without Waked wearing out his welcome, becoming a nuisance, or dragging down an otherwise thrilling scene.

The action finds Besson rejuvenated -- a kid in a candy shop -- with an appetite he hasn't shown in years. Lucy's tele-wizardry is a jumble of flashy FX, sure, but the visuals are electrifying, with bodies hurling against walls, hallways full of cops falling unconscious with a gesture, cellphone signals manipulated mid-air, time and space traversed, the universe born, and other eye-popping surprises. There's some cartoonish CG here and there -- dinosaurs and an early hominid (famously named Lucy) are eyesores -- and Besson's flair for quick docu-cuts is hit or miss. (When Lucy first enters Mr. Jang's hotel, brief flashes of an antelope being stalked by cheetahs pepper the scene. Clever. Later, the number of neurons in the brain is compared to the number of stars in the universe. Cue a shot of... stars. Not so clever.) But there's an energy driving each sequence, shoot-out, chase and display of superpowers that keeps Lucy above all that. With a more meticulously constructed, character- oriented screenplay, the film would have reached a whole other level, even with its comicbook sensibilities intact. As is, it isn't exactly smart sci-fi. At all. It's just a helluva lot of fun. And every now and then, there's nothing wrong with that.

Lucy has a lot going for it, at least where it counts. Dig the tiniest bit beneath the junk science, though, and beware. Plot holes litter the filmscape. Thankfully, Johansson's performance, Min-sik's scene-chewing villain, the high concept action and other delights abound, making it easier to overlook, or perhaps stomach, all the flaws. It's dumb, sure. But it's big and fun too. Go with it. You might enjoy yourself. Universal's Blu-ray release certainly makes it easier. While light on supplements, the BD boasts a fantastic AV presentation primed to please. Besson fans, rejoice.

[CSW] -4.1- Plot holes galore but I still liked it. Lucy: "Learning is always a painful process." I'm guessing, based on the reviews and the ratings that this movie is not for everyone; but it struck me as breathtaking and original...one of Luc Besson's better offerings. After saying that, I have to admit it would not be as good a movie without Scarlett Johansson. She has developed into one of the better actresses of this era; and has the versatility to play any role well...especially the action heroine role she plays in this film. She also has developed a fine deadpan comic delivery, exemplified by the opening quote...in the scene, she has just immobilized the chief villain, Mr. Jang with two knives through his hands, when she deadpans the quote. This is an intellectual movie, especially if your interests lie in physics, philosophy, and biology. Many were disappointed because people were expecting to see a Matrix-like action movie. Good science fiction ends in an idea rather than an action and this film didn't disappoint me. If the price drops I will add this one to my collection.
[V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box 10/10.


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