(This review was guest-written by recovering CPH4 addict Ryan Mains. 6 weeks clean and going strong.)
So, for those of you that listen to the podcast, you probably know Lucy very well. For those that don't, it had the prestigious honor of being deemed worst movie of 2014 by Dylan, with Patrick deeming it 2nd worse, who criticized its lack of length, nonsenicallness, and awful writing. Do I agree? Read my review and find out.
So I'm gonna give some backstory to my viewing of this film. Twas movie night at my family dwelling, and we scrolled pay-per-view for a movie. Lo and behold, we found Whiplash, which was nominated for 5 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor (which it won). Unsurprisingly, my mother and I wanted to watch this, me incredibly so. Unfortunately, Lucy, which recovered a whopping zero Oscar nominations, was directly under it. My stepdad, an action movie aficionado, decided that this was a movie everyone would love. (Spoiler: My mother didn't.) Despite efforts to turn things in my favor, that was picked as our movie, despite my stepdad having lost pick privileges after The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo incident of 2011. After an hour of trying to get Lucy to work on our decade-old television, we dived right in.
OK. Backstory complete. Lucy stars Scarlett Johansson as Lucy, a college student who is studying in Taiwan despite not knowing the language. After a night of clubbing, Lucy meets a man named Richard, who convinces/forces her to deliver a briefcase to a local drug lord named Mr. Jang. For reasons never explained, Richard is immediately killed and Lucy is kidnapped by Jang's men, who cut her open and put a bag of drugs known asBlue Sky CPH4 in her stomach, which is apparently what gives babies the strength to grow in the womb. [citation needed]
Lucy, alongside 3 other people, is then given the task of transporting these drugs across Europe to other drug kingpins. Unfortunately, one of Jang's men tries to feel up Lucy, and savagely beats her when she fights back. Said beating causes the bag in her stomach to leak, causing...odd side effects. Namely, Lucy becomes able to tap into the other 90% of her brain (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vqqGZBRBLcM Somewhere Bryan Lee O'Malley is laughing his ass off.) Now gifted with superpowers, Lucy discovers that it may be too much for her body and sets out to find Professor Samuel Norman (played by Morgan Freeman, as film law demands that either he or Samuel L. Jackson be in every movie) so that she may she pass on her newfound knowledge before she dies. Also, Jang and his men want to kill Lucy and get their drugs back. Action ensues.
If there's one thing Luc Besson is known for, it's impressive action scenes. Unfortunately, the film's action scenes are rather lacking, with there never being that real "Holy crap! Did you see that?!?" moment. I think the reason behind this is simply Lucy herself. Lucy is given god powers right off the bat, turning every engagement into her simply waving her hands and the enemy getting thrown around. The only time I felt any tension was when Officer Pierre Del Rio, Lucy's more or less sidekick, got trapped in a seemingly hopeless gunfight with Lucy too distracted to save him, because Del Rio isn't a god who can undo a man's entire existence by simply breathing. Lucy is an utterly broken character who is never in any danger, making it hard to root for her in the long run. It's kind of why Superman is no one's favorite.
Other than the lackluster action sequences, Besson's direction is simply amazing. He just has an eye for interesting and creative shots, like cutting between the events of the film and wildlife in a similar situation. For instance, as Lucy is lured into a trap, they show a pack of cheetahs hunting and killing gazelle. The cuts are surprisingly effective, and are one of the undoubtedly best aspects of the film.
As for writing, well, Besson struggles. A lot of the plot struggles to make sense, with one scene in particular literally getting three different interpretations from my mom, my stepdad, and I, simply because it's explained so poorly. Another issue is that Lucy is kind of a sociopath, and the nonchalance with which she harms innocents for "the greater good" also makes her incredibly hard to root for.
The fact that the film is 90 minutes is somewhat disappointing, as it forces the story to go incredibly fast, with the implication of Lucy ascending to godhood and wiping out a crime syndicate in a weekend. Had it been 2 or more hours, perhaps it would have been a much more exciting and thought-provoking film.
Speaking of thought-provoking, the film is infinitely better if you view as Besson wanted people to view it, a 2001-esque philosophical that muses on human intelligence and what our full potential is. Seriously, go back and watch this movie like that, and it's infinitely better.
As for performances, they're solid, if nothing to write home about. Scarlett Johansson does good with what she's given, even if it isn't much. Her performance is actually stronger in the first 20 minutes, when she has some level of emotion she can work off of. Morgan Freeman is his usual self, and Amr Waked is solid, despite existing solely to be the character the audience can relate to. Choi-Min Sik has an interesting turn as Mr. Jang, despite Jang's general forgettableness. (Oddly, Besson considers Mr. Jang to be his best villian since Norman Stansfield. Source: http://www.lucymovie.com/pdf/lucy_production_notes.pdf)
Ultimately, Lucy was a decent film that failed to live up to its action-movie roots, but posed interesting questions as a philosophy piece. (What have we done with our intelligence?) The fact that this is Scarlett Johansson's first action movie where she's the star is depressing...
...but Lucy, if you go into it with the right set of expectations, is an enjoyable film, and far from 2014's worst.
Overall Score:
*As an action film: 2 out of 5
*As a sci-fi/philosophy film: 3 and half out of 5
Notes:
>The reason I don't mention the falseness of the 10% myth is because Luc Besson acknowledged that it's not true and he was just using it for story purposes, which is fine by me.
>Apparently, Lucy 2 might be in the works, so maybe I'll put up a post about how to make that interesting.
>The monologues in this film are honestly awful, with my favorite being Lucy's phone call to her mom. Luc Besson, let someone else write those.
So I'm gonna give some backstory to my viewing of this film. Twas movie night at my family dwelling, and we scrolled pay-per-view for a movie. Lo and behold, we found Whiplash, which was nominated for 5 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor (which it won). Unsurprisingly, my mother and I wanted to watch this, me incredibly so. Unfortunately, Lucy, which recovered a whopping zero Oscar nominations, was directly under it. My stepdad, an action movie aficionado, decided that this was a movie everyone would love. (Spoiler: My mother didn't.) Despite efforts to turn things in my favor, that was picked as our movie, despite my stepdad having lost pick privileges after The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo incident of 2011. After an hour of trying to get Lucy to work on our decade-old television, we dived right in.
 |
| And somewhere, Damien Chazelle started crying bitter tears. |
OK. Backstory complete. Lucy stars Scarlett Johansson as Lucy, a college student who is studying in Taiwan despite not knowing the language. After a night of clubbing, Lucy meets a man named Richard, who convinces/forces her to deliver a briefcase to a local drug lord named Mr. Jang. For reasons never explained, Richard is immediately killed and Lucy is kidnapped by Jang's men, who cut her open and put a bag of drugs known as
Lucy, alongside 3 other people, is then given the task of transporting these drugs across Europe to other drug kingpins. Unfortunately, one of Jang's men tries to feel up Lucy, and savagely beats her when she fights back. Said beating causes the bag in her stomach to leak, causing...odd side effects. Namely, Lucy becomes able to tap into the other 90% of her brain (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vqqGZBRBLcM Somewhere Bryan Lee O'Malley is laughing his ass off.) Now gifted with superpowers, Lucy discovers that it may be too much for her body and sets out to find Professor Samuel Norman (played by Morgan Freeman, as film law demands that either he or Samuel L. Jackson be in every movie) so that she may she pass on her newfound knowledge before she dies. Also, Jang and his men want to kill Lucy and get their drugs back. Action ensues.
If there's one thing Luc Besson is known for, it's impressive action scenes. Unfortunately, the film's action scenes are rather lacking, with there never being that real "Holy crap! Did you see that?!?" moment. I think the reason behind this is simply Lucy herself. Lucy is given god powers right off the bat, turning every engagement into her simply waving her hands and the enemy getting thrown around. The only time I felt any tension was when Officer Pierre Del Rio, Lucy's more or less sidekick, got trapped in a seemingly hopeless gunfight with Lucy too distracted to save him, because Del Rio isn't a god who can undo a man's entire existence by simply breathing. Lucy is an utterly broken character who is never in any danger, making it hard to root for her in the long run. It's kind of why Superman is no one's favorite.
Other than the lackluster action sequences, Besson's direction is simply amazing. He just has an eye for interesting and creative shots, like cutting between the events of the film and wildlife in a similar situation. For instance, as Lucy is lured into a trap, they show a pack of cheetahs hunting and killing gazelle. The cuts are surprisingly effective, and are one of the undoubtedly best aspects of the film.
As for writing, well, Besson struggles. A lot of the plot struggles to make sense, with one scene in particular literally getting three different interpretations from my mom, my stepdad, and I, simply because it's explained so poorly. Another issue is that Lucy is kind of a sociopath, and the nonchalance with which she harms innocents for "the greater good" also makes her incredibly hard to root for.
A sociopath you can root for? What a crazy idea.
The fact that the film is 90 minutes is somewhat disappointing, as it forces the story to go incredibly fast, with the implication of Lucy ascending to godhood and wiping out a crime syndicate in a weekend. Had it been 2 or more hours, perhaps it would have been a much more exciting and thought-provoking film.
Speaking of thought-provoking, the film is infinitely better if you view as Besson wanted people to view it, a 2001-esque philosophical that muses on human intelligence and what our full potential is. Seriously, go back and watch this movie like that, and it's infinitely better.
As for performances, they're solid, if nothing to write home about. Scarlett Johansson does good with what she's given, even if it isn't much. Her performance is actually stronger in the first 20 minutes, when she has some level of emotion she can work off of. Morgan Freeman is his usual self, and Amr Waked is solid, despite existing solely to be the character the audience can relate to. Choi-Min Sik has an interesting turn as Mr. Jang, despite Jang's general forgettableness. (Oddly, Besson considers Mr. Jang to be his best villian since Norman Stansfield. Source: http://www.lucymovie.com/pdf/lucy_production_notes.pdf)
 |
The implication that anyone is as good as Norman Stansfield is hilarious.
|
Ultimately, Lucy was a decent film that failed to live up to its action-movie roots, but posed interesting questions as a philosophy piece. (What have we done with our intelligence?) The fact that this is Scarlett Johansson's first action movie where she's the star is depressing...
_from_Captain_America_The_Winter_Soldier_poster_001.jpg) |
C'mon Marvel, do the right thing.
|
...but Lucy, if you go into it with the right set of expectations, is an enjoyable film, and far from 2014's worst.
 |
| There's a far more obvious candidate for that. |
Overall Score:
*As an action film: 2 out of 5
*As a sci-fi/philosophy film: 3 and half out of 5
Notes:
>The reason I don't mention the falseness of the 10% myth is because Luc Besson acknowledged that it's not true and he was just using it for story purposes, which is fine by me.
>Apparently, Lucy 2 might be in the works, so maybe I'll put up a post about how to make that interesting.
>The monologues in this film are honestly awful, with my favorite being Lucy's phone call to her mom. Luc Besson, let someone else write those.
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