It would be fascinating to know what percentage of his brain Luc Besson used to write
The French writer-director of movies such as ‘The Fifth Element’ and ‘The Professional’ is back with ‘Lucy,’ another popcorn flick with playful visuals and nonsensical plot developments. It’s basically a weird cross between ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Limitless,’ it’s mostly fun – except when it takes itself seriously – and, to Besson’s credit, does its business in less than 90 minutes. ‘Life was given to us a billion years ago,’ says star Scarlett Johansson, who portrays the titular main character, in the film’s opening narration. ‘What have we done with it?’
Ugh. This sounds serious. Well, soon enough, Lucy is handcuffed to a locked metal briefcase by a guy she dated briefly. He demands she march this case into a building and ask for a Mr. Jang, insisting that she’s in no danger despite the fact he won’t do it. Her friend is soon killed, and Lucy finds herself being questioned by Jang (Choi Min Sik) and his henchman. The scene makes very little sense – Jang seems to have no idea what’s in the case and hides while Lucy is forced to open it, but he is able to provide her with the code to unlock the case – but it is chock full of suspense and humor. It’s an example of some of the fine execution Besson shows at times in ‘Lucy.’ Turns out the case is full of a blue crystalline substance that’s soon surgically implanted in Lucy and others against their will. In Lucy, this drug Jang and his associates hope to sell on the streets opens up unused brain capacity. It not only makes her increasingly smarter but also, for some reason, gives her supernatural abilities. Meanwhile, we meet professor Samuel Norman (Morgan Freeman), an expert on brain capacity, who’s giving a presentation about how humans only use about 2 percent of their brains and hypothesizing that if they could access more, they’d be capable of incredible feats. (You more commonly hear that humans use about 10 percent of their cerebral capacity, but there are plenty of articles online claiming that to be an urban myth.) It’s enjoyable to go on Lucy’s mind-expanding journey as she initially is able to understand other languages and decipher medical charts but soon can flex incredible telekinetic powers. (Hilariously, though, when Besson decides the audience really needs to understand something, Lucy has to have it explained to her by another person.) As Lucy’s overpowered brain appears to be putting her on the fast track to an early death, she seeks out the expertise of professor Norman and enlists a French cop (Amr Waked) to help her take down Jang. This leads to a climax that is, shall we say, unusual.
Every aspect of ‘Lucy’ is a mixed bag. Let’s start with the acting. Even after all these years, it’s tough to say just how talented Johansson (‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier,’ ‘Lost in Translation’) is. Here, her line reads are pretty flat, but, in maybe half the scenes, that works really well, giving ‘Lucy’ this odd comic sensibility. Whether that’s always by design is up for debate. But, as Lucy grows super smart and spouts deep thoughts about the essence of life and the importance of time, Johansson isn’t exactly compelling. For his part, the always-appealing Freeman sort of goes through the motions – you can’t blame him given all the brain-capacity mumbo jumbo he’s asked to recite – while Waked (‘Syriana’) does a nice job as a cop who can’t believe what he’s witnessing Lucy do. As for Besson’s writing and directing, he succeeds more in the latter. Again, certain scenes are very well constructed – even if many involve Lucy and other characters entering a room and immediately shooting everyone inside. (Oh, by the way, the movie is very violent but cartoonishly so.) But the script is all over the place. It’s best when it’s funny – when Besson is intentionally using Lucy’s newfound smarts and abilities for comedic effect – and just plain bad when he seems to actually be trying to say something about human existence. Again, ugh. Even in this fairly weak summer-movie season, you can do better than ‘Lucy,’ but you can certainly do worse, too. Really, if you can ratchet your cerebral capacity down to about 2 percent by the time the lights go dark in the theater, you’ll be just fine. ‘Lucy’ – rated R for strong violence, disturbing images, and sexuality – is in theaters. Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
