Ok..as my game of “catch-up” continues, of course it is all for YOUR benefit dear readers, and therefore is WORTH the effort. That being said, this is for another film originally released LAST weekend that I just caught THIS weekend while wrapping up time on vacation. So, for this second review of the “Catch-Up” game, I now give you….”Lucy”.
Directed and written by Luc Besson, the mastermind behind such superb action-based films as “Leon: The Professional“, “Taken 1“, “2” & “3“, and “The Transporter 1“, “2“, & “3“, this film takes us on one WILD ride into the life of regular girl Lucy (the excellent Scarlett Johansson) who, due to a bad set of circumstances while in China and involving a guy she just met, Richard (Pilou Asbaek), ends up at the heart of a seriously messed up drug deal/business venture lead by a powerful Chinese drug lord, Mr. Jang (Min-sik Choi) and an international businessman know only as The Limey (Julian Rhind-Tutt), who ultimately use Lucy and others as “mules” to get an experimental synthetic powder out to locations around Europe to be sold and distributed. Utilizing a method of transporting the substance that is NOT the most orthodox, Lucy’s already terrifying experience is made worse when she is unexpectedly exposed to the drug…….and the effects it has on her entire being……as she is suddenly finding herself capable of performing actions WELL beyond the norm and even above human logic. Once realizing the full potential it unlocks in the human mind, and ultimate cost of what it AND she can do, Lucy sets out to take revenge on her captors but to also make the synthetic known to a well known authority on the human mind, Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman) and along with way enlisting the initially reluctant aid of a French police officer Pierre Del Rio (Amr Waked). As her mind continues to expand, Professor Norman begins to believe that mankind may not be remotely ready for the knowledge being accessed by Lucy’s ever-expanding intelligence gathering, but in working out a deal with him to give him what she is discovering, it ends up becoming a journey into the farthest reaches of our minds and understanding, then eclipsing THAT. And to that point, no more details, as my “No Spoiler” rule must once again rule my sharing about the story.
I am already a huge fan of Luc Besson as it is, so usually if I see his name involved with a film, I will generally give it a chance. “Lucy” was no exception to this rule, but I must say, this truly is one WILD, intense ride into the imagination and into some of the scarier concepts you could find in science fiction. The fact this film dealt with a new synthetic drug that could expand a person’s brain power to FULL potential made this end up being like “Transcendence” on crack (no pun intended, actually!)! Besson takes us on this journey in frenetic pacing and scary scenarios that all culminate in Johansson’s Lucy becoming the LAST person you’d want to mess with, yet the FIRST person you might want on your side when the fullness of what she is capable of doing is revealed in the ever-increasing stages and percentages it is given to us. The film is only 98 minutes, so again, pacing here is pretty much non-stop and the unfolding story is both freakishly engrossing and unapologetically violent in multiple respects. I mean, the entire CONCEPT of the film is enough to freak anyone out when we realize in general that there ARE some people out there trying to unlock the secrets of the human brain and its potential. This takes that and makes it real via the synthetic that has been created. Johansson is amazing in this role, though, because she is SO solid in first making Lucy the genuinely terrified regular person turned unwilling “mule” and then transforming into the person she becomes once exposed to the synthetic; cold, calculating and singular in focus to both learn everything she can and get it to those who need the knowledge while taking out some serious anger on those who started the whole thing in the first place with insane precision and knowhow thanks to her newfound “talents”. And it seems Morgan Freeman is simply in EVERY film that comes out anymore, so once again, here he is, holding his own with the material he is given and doing it perfectly as he always does! The supporting cast is fine, but let’s be honest, many of them were ultimately around to be fodder for Lucy. The visuals in the movie are quite incredible once the mayhem inside of Lucy starts manifesting, and it is one crazy journey to say the least! Again, this really is a science fiction film hiding out behind the writing of a Luc Besson action picture. And this movie belongs to Johansson, no question about it. So, be warned the film IS most certainly a violent affair as Besson’s action pieces often are, but I honestly did not feel overwhelmed by it or that, funny enough, it was placed gratuitously in the story. It is a creepy, edgier film that isn’t afraid to show it, but do it in a way that just hits you in the face and gives you a satisfying ride to the outer reaches of human potential and the dangers of experimentation with things we DON’T have any control over or REAL knowledge about. And if you HAVE seen “Transcendence”, it is about the ONLY initial film I can think of to even compare it to on many levels.
As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
Permalink