LUCY – Rated R

LUCY – Rated R

Luc Besson, the screenplay writer who has brought us films like THE FIFTH ELEMENT, LE FEMME NIKITA, TAXI,  TAKEN and TRANSPORTER – is writing again, but decides to take ultimate control this time around, as he sits in the director’s chair for his next mind-boggling film – LUCY.

Leaving home and trying to make it on her own, Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) has been dating a new guy, Richard (Pilou Asbæk) for a short time, and has decided getting involved with him just isn’t feeling right.  Richard insists that Lucy help him deliver a case, and when she refuses, he decides to take matters into his own hands.  Now fastened to this case, without any idea of what is in it, Lucy is forced to deliver the package to a Mr. Jang (Min-sik Choi), Richard’s supposed boss.

Things proceed to get really out of hand rather quickly, Lucy isn’t sure if she is going to make it out of this drop off alive, as Mr. Jang and his men are nothing to mess with.  Scared and unsure of what to do next, Lucy does whatever it takes to stay alive……

When she wakes up, unsure of what has just happened to her, she realizes that she has been through surgery, and a bag of something has been placed into her abdomen.  WTF – what kind of warped transportation system is this?

While Lucy is focusing on staying alive, Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman) is at attending a conference discussing the research he has done for decades regarding the brain’s capacity, and how much of it we never actually access. 

When Lucy refuses to appease her transporter’s advances, he proceeds to kick her, which dispenses some of the drug she is carrying into her system.  Confused by what is happening to her, Lucy tries to find Dr. Norman, hoping he can help her figure out what the drug that is now flowing through her blood stream, is actually doing to her mind….

Will Professor Norman be able to help Lucy, and explain what the dreaded drug inside her is doing to her mind?  Will Lucy become a genius through this process, being able to access ever corner of her brain – gaining more knowledge than any other human – ever!?  Or will the drug invading her body destroy her before she can get the answers she seeks, and take out the monsters that have done this to her……….?

I give LUCY a C – I love Scarlett Johannson, and the casting of her for this role was superb, as she apparently is drawing from her Black Widow alter ego for much of this film…..but the concept of us only being able to access 10% of our brain is ludicrous – of course I had to check to make sure that this was a fallacy – and it is……although, we must keep in mind that it is amazing what a little synthetic drug can do for you…..anyone remember 2011’s LIMITLESS or 1980’s ALTERED STATES, because when you start messing with the brain – who really knows where we are headed! But if you like Scarlett, lots of blood and lots of action – you may enjoy this one more than I did – and it is only 90 minutes long – so the time viewing it just flies by – I was just hoping for something new from Johannson than I had seen before, and I left the theater feeling – been there, seen that so all I can say about this one is the whole thing felt just AVERAGE to me.

If you see this film and would like to share your views – share them with me – that’s what MATINEE CHAT is all about…….would love to hear what you think too 😉

Kathy Kaiser