As I write this movie review, science tells me I'm using only a miniscule portion of my brain. Same with you as you read it. Science also tells me I'd be able to do amazing things if I were able to unlock more of my gray matter. Smart people using more of their brain than I use have yet to figure out how to do that, though – and if they can't solve that problem, then I'm not going to do it while I'm sitting on the couch muching on Doritos and watching "Three's Company" reruns on TV Land.
Luc Besson, a film director with enough decent action movies on his resume to warrant attention (“The Professional,” “The Fifth Element”), thought it would be fun to make a film about what would happen if Scarlett Johansson unlocked ALL of her brain capacity. He must have been right, because the movie is great fun.
“Lucy,” named after a 3.2 million year old female primate (or so scientists using more brain than me say), introduces viewers to its titular character when she’s in the middle of a shady situation that’s about to go really, really bad. Her boyfriend of one week (a complete scuz, demonstrating Lucy’s lack of intelligence in the beginning) convinces her to carry a briefcase into a Chinese hotel and deliver it to Mr. Jang, a very, very bad man.
Within a few hours, Lucy wakes up in a holding cell, a bag of a new synthetic drug sewn into her belly. She soon learns Jang is forcing her and a handful of others to smuggle the drugs back to their respective countries. When she refuses the advances of thug, he kicks her in the stomach, breaking the bag and releasing the drug into her system. Instead of killing her, the drug begins to slowly open up her brain.
What follows is essentially one long chase scene as Lucy attempts to retrieve the other bags, and Jang tries to stop her. I won’t ruin all of the surprises, but I will say that as more of Lucy’s brain capacity is unlocked, her abilities go off the charts, leading to increasingly inventive action scenes. I especially liked the one in which she goes Neo (from “The Matrix”) on a hallway full of bad guys, stopping their bullets with her mind and then keeping them from budging as she slowly walks by.
I love the casting of Johansson, one of modern cinema’s sexy symbols, as the star of a movie about a girl whose intelligence goes through the roof. She not only throws herself into the role, she makes you forget you’re watching her. I love when I stop seeing an actor and I see the character he or she is portraying.
Morgan Freeman appears as a scientist who’s spent decades studying the human brain and theorizing what would happen if mankind could unlock its full capacity. He gets his answer when Lucy reads all of his research in a matter of minutes and calls him on every electronic device in his hotel room. Freeman’s presence in a movie is always welcome, and although the role doesn’t challenge him, it is a necessary one, as his character educates the audience and keeps it informed.
I’m also impressed with Besson, who not only helmed this trippy piece of cinema but wrote it as well. While his camera work isn’t as flashy as that of some other action directions, he knows how to establish and edit action, and he adds a lot of stylistic touches to the movie. I liked how he cut shots of a cheetah stalking prey into the scene of Lucy’s boyfriend trying to convince her to take the briefcase into the hotel.
“Lucy” goes off the charts in its last 20 minutes, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. Without giving anything away, once Lucy reaches 100 percent brain capacity, she can go anywhere, including in time, and do anything.
If there’s a problem with “Lucy,” other than its simplistic take on the material, it’s the understanding early in the movie that Lucy is becoming indestructible. In the absence of suspense, the movie becomes about what Lucy will do next. It works well.
Besson does skirt the surface of some of the larger ideas his script raises. For example, as Lucy unlocks more and more of her brain capacity, she struggles to hold on to the things that make her human: love, compassion, empathy, etc. Besson altogether abandons this intriguing line of thought in favor of special effects as the film nears its end.
I’m not complaining, though. I had a good time watching “Lucy,” and plan to see it again when it’s released on home video. I’m going to start stocking up on Doritos today.
Three stars out of four. Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images, and sexuality.