Lucy

[TNGTony]

[CONTAINER][MOVIE1]Title: Lucy

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

Genre: [GENRE]Action[/GENRE], [GENRE]Science Fiction[/GENRE]

Director: [DIRECTOR]Luc Besson[/DIRECTOR]

Cast: [ACTOR]Scarlett Johansson[/ACTOR], [ACTOR]Morgan Freeman[/ACTOR], [ACTOR]Analeigh Tipton[/ACTOR], [ACTOR]Amr Waked[/ACTOR], [ACTOR]Choi Min-sik[/ACTOR], [ACTOR]Julian Rhind-Tutt[/ACTOR], [ACTOR]Pilou Asbæk[/ACTOR], [ACTOR]Nicolas Phongpheth[/ACTOR], [ACTOR]Jan Oliver Schroeder[/ACTOR]

Release Date: [RELEASE]2014-07-25[/RELEASE]

Runtime: [RUNTIME]89[/RUNTIME]

Plot: [PLOT]A woman, accidentally caught in a dark deal, turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.[/PLOT][/MOVIE1][POSTER1]

[/POSTER1][/CONTAINER]

 

[TNGTony]

It was "double feature night" tonight and I just now got done watching "Lucy", an action sci-fi/fantasy thriller about unlocking the human brain.
First of all I have to commend this movie for using the terms "Hypothesis" and "Theory" correctly. A scientific theory and a hypothesis (what most would call theory in the casual sense) are not the same thing. But beyond that, movie is pure fantasy.
One of the first things I had to do is ignore the fact that the "humans only use 10% of their brain capacity" has absolutely no basis in reality. As a matter of fact, with the use of the f-MRI we know beyond all doubt that we use every last bit of the brains we have. But let's just put that aside and see if we can still enjoy the movie for what it is.
Our heroine is Lucy. This woman of average intelligence quickly falls into a situation when she is forced to become a drug mule carrying a bag of a new drug surgically implanted in her gut. The drug is accidentally released in her system causing her to be able to access more and more of her brain. In the mean time the drug cartel is out to get their drugs back.
The title was not lost on me in that Lucy was the name given to the fossil of a hominid who, at the time of its discovery, was thought to be the earliest ancestor human fossil ever found. Symbolically, Lucy was what separated humans from earlier primates. We get to see an artist's interpretation of that Lucy at the very beginning of the movie as well.

The movie Lucy is an interesting romp and some may find it fun. I found it cliched, but interesting enough to hold my complete attention.
Scarlett Johansson plays Lucy. Once she begins to transform, the acting becomes completely wooden. The character is no longer supposed to show emotion, but it comes off as flat and lifeless. Morgan Freeman, who must be in every Hollywood movie ever made, plays a peripheral roll as a scientist who is conveniently studying the human mind and lays out the groundwork for what we can expect as the brain develops.
There are plot holes in this movie that one could teleport a truck through, but let them slide if you plan to give this movie a chance to entertain.
This is definitely not a movie great. It is a cliched mish-mosh of drug cartel violence, senseless and shocking loss of human life, unnecessary and mind-bogglingly incongruent chase scenes, and bad science/science fiction. I found it unsatisfying as a whole. It is important to note, though, that I was glued to the screen throughout the movie even as I protested the numerous inconsistencies within this made-up universe, so it couldn't have been that bad,