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The good
Interesting changes throughout the movie resulting in some entertaining action sequences. Concept is intriguing overall
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The bad
Squanders the opportunity to address the potential of humanity in a different light. Generic bad guys. No stage feels truly explored so story not as engrossing as it should've been
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The ugly
Lucy is an action sci-fi film starring Scarlett Johansson as the woman whose existence is changed completely after undergoing changes due to an experimental drug. It opens up with Lucy standing in front of a building in Taiwan having a discussion with her new boyfriend, who is apprehensive about this task he has to complete inside. He’s so terrified that he tries to convince her to do it by telling her she just has to simply deliver the suitcase he has to the front desk and someone will come get it and she can be on her way. He says he can’t do it because he has bad history with the guy but when she tries to walk away he handcuffs the suitcase to her wrist and claims only the man inside has the key. Since she has no other choice, she goes inside, and after reluctantly giving the man at the front desk her name and her reason for being there, she’s horrified as she watches her boyfriend gunned down outside the building and armed men come and get her to bring her upstairs. Things go from bad to worse as she meets Mr. Jang, a well-known Korean drug lord, and after making sure the contents of the suitcase are safe, she’s forced to become one of 4 drug mules who will be transporting a new synthetic drug called CPH4. They’re all given fake passports and different destinations because apparently this CPH4 will be the new drug of choice for the party crowd. However something goes terribly wrong while she’s held captive in one of the cells as one gang members goes too far, beats her up and kicks her repeatedly in her stomach rupturing the bag inside her causing some of the CPH4 to be released into her body. This causes the start of her transformation when she’s alone as she becomes capable of using more than 10% of her brain capacity, and it’s rising rapidly granting her new and incredible abilities along the way. But what will happen when she reaches 100% of her brain capacity?
Lucy is the type of movie that screams at you to overlook aspects of its premise in order for it to tell a story, and in this case it’s the theory about how the brain works, and as a result her increasing abilities as more of her brain “capacity” is unlocked. Even when the theory is being explained by Professor Norman (played by Morgan Freeman) nothing is shown in his presentation to explain where he came up with his layout for what happens at specific percentages. So with that being the case, I went in with the mindset hoping Lucy was either a kick ass action movie or mostly metaphorical as it raised questions about humanity, its condition, and all the possibilities if it was to indeed reach its hidden potential in the context of the movie. The original Matrix is one that comes to mind as achieving both. However Lucy didn’t quite get to 100% in either regard as it seemed to be more focused on the message it wanted to convey with its endgame than on creating a thrilling and unique journey. It started off very well with Lucy being pulled into this world against her wishes and Scarlett Johansson did an excellent job making it a frightful situation and portraying one completely new to this world. And there was even some humor in the midst of this graphic and chilling situation. The ignorance of what this synthetic drug could do was very noticeable because on one hand it didn’t make sense why anyone would want to take it recreationally and on the other hand those who synthesized it apparently didn’t know what it could fully do in large quantities. Also the movie never addressed whether or not more could just be made.
However from an entertainment standpoint the change to her was very impressive as she would take out the guards, and make her escape. Her first course of action would make perfect sense, and the nature of CPH4 would be explained and the theory of how it works in the movie. And there would be a touching moment here as Lucy would basically go over her life story and all she could remember, and in a way, addressing all that the brain stores. And even what she would decide to do next in hunting the other drug mules to recover the CPH4 would be an interesting plot point as it would potentially put her in a lot of action-packed scenes where her new and evolving abilities could be put on display. And this is where the movie would start to fumble at times because the pace at which her brain acceleration would take place would prevent the movie from either exploring the understanding of these changes or letting her use them enough to leave one feeling satisfied. For example, even though Morgan Freeman did a great job as Professor Norman and giving the character some kind of gravitas, when you reflect on all he actually did or said he was about as useful as someone sitting next to you in the theater watching it for the first time but trying to guess what’s going on and what will happen next. Lucy tells another character that she partnered with that the reason she keeps him around is to remind herself, which presumably was for her humanity but the fact she had zero personal connections and didn’t interact with the public in any meaningful way during her growth prevented the movie from examining what it means to be human in a unique way.
The action was very enjoyable and there were a few sequences that were pretty intense or unique but as her brain capacity grew her involvement in the action waned. And I would have loved to see her in more action sequences, and of course Scarlett Johansson is capable of pulling it off. Instead the focus was on the members of the drug cartel that turned her into a drug mule, and there was zero reason for her to keep Mr. Jang alive after her initial meeting with her new abilities except for the sole purpose of having them pursue her throughout the movie as generic enemies. There are questions I can raise about this that would fall into spoiler territory so I won’t do that. However I can note that with her immense abilities so much of what occurred could have been prevented, and if the movie was trying to use these events in a metaphorical way, which would excuse some questionable moments, it wouldn’t be as effective as it could’ve been because commentary wasn’t offered about any current human conditions in a meaningful way. Even her ability to see all forms of communication visually or rewind time wasn’t incorporated into the story as much as it could’ve been and so you just have to accept that the closer one gets to 100% brain capacity the more godlike one becomes. I could be facetious and ask what if even at 100% the human brain is still extremely limited but I enjoyed part of what it was trying to address just from an entertainment standpoint. I do however wonder how much more enjoyable this movie would be if it was able to tap into 100% of the potential of its premise.
SUMMARY Lucy is an ok movie that has its moments but fails to reach 100% of its potential due to its rush towards the message in its endgame as opposed to truly exploring what it would mean for humanity to undergo these changes. Her lack of personal connections and limited interactions prevented it from being fully satisfying in even a metaphorical way. The concept is still fascinating from an entertainment standpoint, and the results at the different levels are exciting in particular situations so I did find it enjoyable in ways. The action was impressive but could’ve been so much more with her abilities. And so I feel the limitations of the story and the action squandered the opportunity for a true gem.
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Rating ( 6.5 )
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Total score 6.5
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