Lucy (2014)
Certified: 15
Duration: 89 minutes
Directed by: Luc Besson
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-Sik, Amr Waked, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pilou Asbæk, Analeigh Tipton, Nicolas Phongpheth
KRS Releasing Ltd
Luc Besson makes a lot of corny but entertaining films. However, sometimes the French director manages to strike gold and delivers classic movies like La Femme Nikita (1990), Leon (1994), The Fifth Element (1997) and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999).
With Lucy, he returns to the glory days of his maverick side from the 1990s. It seems that, after Milla Jovovich and Natalie Portman, it is Scarlett Johansson’s turn to become his muse.
If one were to boil the plot down, one will find that this movie is an over-the-top female version of another big movie, Limitless (2011).
The film kicks off in Taipei where we meet the blonde Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) who is really out to party hard. She gets trapped in a situation under the control of Mr Jang (Choi Min-Sik), a Korean crime boss. This leads to her becoming a drugs mule.
At one point the drug bursts inside her and she is supposed to overdose on the powerful drug. Instead, this leads her to become almost superhuman as she starts to use her brain beyond the normal 10 per cent humans usually make use of. This brings her to the attention of Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman) who is an expert in this field.
Lucy is entertainment with a capital ‘E’
However, Lucy is not afraid as she seems to know everything and her sense of perception has become so heightened and acute.
Besson directs with a steady hand and deadpan straight-faced humour that make this movie quite a treat. From the adrenaline-filled opening, the director puts pedal to the metal and never lets go in what is this suspenseful and riveting picture.
It is evident that Besson enjoyed himself setting up one goofy sequence after the after. And he exploits the fact that his protagonist is able to make use of her brain, leading her to do a world of crazy stuff. In a way this movie walks the same path of the recent Transcendence but does it in a much more fun and cool manner.
Johansson is always guaranteed to turn heads. Here she is the visual core and heart of the movie as she is given all kinds of crazy powers and made to look cool at every scene. She is the action heroine that this acid trip of a movie needed to give it its unique look. Lucy is entertainment with a capital ‘E’.