Why I Saw It: Scarlett Johansson has been having too strong of a year or two to start selling on her now.
Cast: Here's the thing about every actor in the movie: they go all in. Scarlett Johansson has to go from kind of an idiot to being a god in the matter of 90ish minutes and plays each stage as well as possible, given the extremes she has to play. Morgan Freeman is a professor who hypothesizes everything Johansson's Lucy goes through. I think most of his filmography confirms that he can play such a part as well as anyone. I couldn't tell you any other actor's name. There's douchey boyfriend, scary Asian kingpin, cop who comes along for the ride, and that girl from Crazy Stupid Love. If you've seen any Luc Besson movies, you know all these archetypes already.
Plot: When your mind reaches 100% capacity, you become a master of time and space. That is the thesis statement of this movie and your response to that will dictate your thoughts of the movie. The movie begins with Lucy at 1% of her brain capacity. Why not 10%, as common "knowledge" says humans operate at? I don't know. Well, Lucy becomes an unwilling drug mule. The drug is something called CPH4, which, when you have enough of it, unlocks your brain's full capacity. Lucy has enough of it, and the movie escalates with markers for each % increase until she reaches 100%. It's the story of Lucy trying to get to 100% while an Asian crime boss is trying to kill her. Despite this, at no point is there ever a sense of stakes. She literally cannot be stopped. Thankfully, it is a very brief movie. Two or more hours of this would be tedious beyond belief.
Elephant in the Room: When your mind reaches 100% capacity, can you become a master of time and space? No. That's ludicrous. I think John Travolta in Phenomenon is more "accurate". This is a high concept science fiction movie and Luc Besson (writer and director) isn't concerned with much more than what it would look like for Scarlett Johansson to be a god. There's no more internal logic than that.
Movie Theater LVP(s): This week, the award goes to the couple sitting directly in front of me, not quite making out, but everything short of it. First of all, this is not a movie that fits the "snuggle obnoxiously and repeatedly kiss" mold. Secondly, it's a 1:25pm showing on a Sunday. That's a strange time for "date night" behavior. Third, and most important, it's wasn't that full of a theater. There's no reason to sit in the row directly in front of me so that I have to look over you every time you start kissing. At least two rows up (which was available) wouldn't cut off my view of the screen. Way to be annoying!
To Sum Things Up:
A common complaint of Woody Allen's movies is that the screenplays often feel like first drafts since he has so little time before has has to start filming again. While not as prolific as Allen, Luc Besson is a busy man too, churning out a lot of screenplays. The end result of Lucy is a very rushed final project. The idea is to have god-like Lucy in the middle of a Taken or Transporter movie. There are some interesting thoughts in it, but it's such a muddled mess of bad pseudo-science and inconsistent logic (she can telekinetically control people and controls electricity but still has to drive to get around town?) that there isn't any room to take it seriously, even as an action movie. I can see why Johansson would want to do this. It's a fun role and she does more with it than the rest of the movie deserves. This movie reflects most of the movies released this past month: some good ideas but in the end underwhelming.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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