Lucy
Release Date: July 25, 2014
Directed By: Luc Besson
Written: October 8th, 2014
So I saw the movie Lucy tonight.
Yeah, that one.
I have to say I went into the theater with something different expected. According to the previews the movie will be about an "innocent" girl who has a mind-expanding pack of drugs implanted in her abdomen.
You know what, before I continue I need to post one more thing.
Yeah, I'm going to be talking a lot about the movie and what went on in it so if you haven't seen it and you don't want any spoilers I would HIGHLY suggest you not read any further.
Has everyone left that needs to leave?
Good!
Now to the beginning.
At the beginning of the movie, after some pimp-daddy looking jerk forces Lucy (played by Scarlett Johansson) to take a briefcase in to see a high-powered business man, the business man turns out to be like a Kingpin of Crime.
He is NOT nice at all and does some of the killing himself instead of just some lackey doing it.
Awful considerate of him.
Any way, he forces Lucy to open the case, which she does, to reveal four bags of blue-purple powder.
Here is where I have my first problem with this movie.
The previews make you think that ALL four bags are surgically installed in Lucy.
That is not the case.
Only one bag is implanted in her. The other three are put, one by one, into the abdomen of three other dudes.
Each is given a plane ticket and passport back to different countries around the world.
At this point in time the movie kind of switches to showing Morgan Freeman, who plays a professor who apparently is the most knowledgeable about the brain and how much/little we use of ours. His lecture talks about how we only use 10% and that dolphins use maybe 20%.
Now we get to problem Number 2.
This movie dives head-on into the subject of Evolution.
If you know anything about me know this. I do NOT believe in Evolution.
Why? We can debate Evolution another blog.
The main premise of this movie turns out to NOT be about how we, as humans, are not as smart as we thought, but, in fact, that it appears we need drugs, or a medical boost, to open more of our minds so that we can EVOLVE into greater beings.
Truth, that part was never said. It was alluded to that we CAN attain power and brilliance if we could just open more areas of our minds.
That is what the lecture is primarily about.
Interestingly, filming wise, the movie goes back and forth between telling the story of Lucy and the lecture of Morgan.
Interspersed with pictures of nature, human body, the galaxy, and more.
All of which was NOT needed...in my personal opinion.
In any case, Lucy gets let go with a bag of drugs in her only to be captured by some thugs who make the mistake of kicking her in the stomach...which puts a small hole in the bag...which starts affecting Lucy almost immediately.
She starts convulsing, sliding UP the wall, across the ceiling, crawling down the chain holding her to the floor, and back to her spot.
Once back down she suddenly comes back to herself (sort of) and picks up her chair, sits, and gets ready for someone to come into the chamber they have kept her.
Sure enough some guy comes in. He thinks she's wanting to have sex with him (primarily because she made suggestive movements).
Instead it looks like she kills him, takes his belt, uses it to grab a table, takes the gun, releases herself, and then heads out, ready to shoot anyone who gets in her way.
Just look at her. So calm, so in control, so pretty...and armed.
At the end of the hall she comes upon four or five guys.
One of them is the guy who kicked her a few times.
I think he's the first one she shoots.
She then grabs some stuff and heads out, grabbing/threatening a taxi cab driver to take her to the hospital.
Here at the hospital she forces a doctor to surgically remove the bag inside her...which she takes with her I believe.
From the hospital she heads BACK to the office of the bad guy who started all this in the first place.
There she confronts him in order to get the destinations, names, and faces of the other three guys with pouches in them.
Why?
We'll get to that in a bit.
She heads back to her apartment that she shares with another girl. one who is apparently an aspiring actress. When she greets her roommate she is astonished to find that she can feel everything about her roommate.
But before she says anything she must first use a laptop to hack a few things, read more than 6,000 pages of scientific research by Morgan Freeman, find his location, and then call him...while also speaking to him through his hotel television screen.
The scene where Morgan is confronted with the visual display of Lucy's abilities and the fact that she is a living represntation of his life's work is priceless. Once again Morgan shows us why he is a master thespian.
So she convinces him and then says she'll meet with him in about 12 hours.
Then she leaves her apartment and heads to the airport. There we see news footage of her and her description is cast about. Which is why she then psionically rearranges her cellular structure and grows her hair longer and colors it black. Oh, she also straightens it out.
Before boarding...and while there is no one near a computer, she calls a detective who's in charge of drug trafficking and sends him wirelessly the names, pictures, and destinations of the other three pouch carriers.
Once on board the plane, though, she starts having problems. She starts breaking down. She has to cram almost the entire rest of the blue powder in her mouth and swallow, before she is able to get herself back to "normal."
My memory of the movie is failing me right now.
I THINK that it's about this point that we see her eye shift from one creature to another.
She manages to get herself back under control and off the plane.
Meanwhile the police have found and arrested the other three guys and taken them to a hospital. They are going to be prepped for surgery when the bad guy and his henchmen appear and kill all the police and doctors and such.
Let me backtrack real quick.
Once off the plane Lucy heads to meet the detective she had called earlier. He has her surrounded, but, as the previews show, she waves her hand and all but the detective are knocked out.
She then gets him into a car and head for the hospital.
Right about this point is when Lucy starts being able to see data streams and telephone/digital signals.
What's impressive is the reflection in her eyes of the data streams.
She starts moving them around and then uses the CB Radio in the car to hear what is being said. She's listening to the bad guys talk about what hospital the pouches are at and that everyone needs to meet there to get them back.
Lucy then switches places with the detective and drives them at break-neck speed to the hospital.
They arrive but only after the bad guys have killed all but one of the pouch carriers and collected all of the pouches in the original suitcase. Five guys try to stop Lucy and five guys end up literally "dancing" on the ceiling.
She takes the suitcase back and then heads out to meet up with Morgan, who has gathered a couple more scientists to help him with Lucy's condition.
You see, it turns out that Lucy knows she is dying as her cells are breaking down. Her mind, apparently, no longer needs them as it's grown beyond physical limits.
What she wants from Morgan is to be injected with the rest of the powder (turned into a liquid by the scientists) so that she can reach full 100% capacity of her mind. She promises that all that she knows and sees and experiences will be written down and given to Morgan to slowly unravel.
There is a huge metaphysical video montage of her journey to that point all while the bad guys have a shoot out with the police that the detective had called in.
Most everyone dies.
But in the end...
Well...
I'm sorry, but the ending, well it left us hanging a bit but even worse...it was at this point in time that I realized I had just watched a more updated (albeit with better effects and a more good looking main character) version of The Lawnmower Man.
The acting is superb in this movie (Lucy) and the effects are amazing, but the whole premise was evolution based, with a story that centered around drug-enhancing mind expansion, with an ending that was almost exactly like The Lawnmower Man!
There is even a moment, when the detective asks where Lucy is.
Suddenly his phone rings, and when he looks at the screen, a simple message appears.
"I am everywhere."
So, there you have the movie.
That was it.
Granted, the acting is spot-on perfect, the special effects are as life-like as you can imagine they would be, and the action sequences didn't leave you rubbing your eyes wondering why they need to use the Unsteady-Cam. (They don't.)
Outside of the several problems I've already listed, this movies flow could have been better if they didn't keep showing you scenes from nature. While good illustrations of what was being said or happening, it felt almost like another nature documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman.
Which I'm fine with, but that's not what I paid to go see.
Now for my final verdict.
Would I ever buy this movie?
Buying a movie is what I consider the HIGHEST form of flattery.
So, would I buy this movie?
No. I'm sorry, but I won't be buying this movie any time soon.
Do I recommend you see it for yourself?
Certainly.
There are some really good ideas and lines in this movie that need more discussion.
Even some of the metaphysical ideas are amazing to think about and inspirational for anyone who is into writing science-fiction.
But I won't be buying this movie.
However, if you disagree and you think my synopsis is off, I'd be happy with discussing this topic with you.
But for now...be aware...
Lucy is everywhere!