Big Bang Theory
Film: Lucy
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman
Directed by: Luc Besson
Duration: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: * * *
French Director Luc Besson makes those
leave-your-brains-behind kind of action films like Taken, Transporter and the Taxi
franchise. He tried his hand at sci-fi with The
Fifth Element and this enterprise, Lucy, is a cross between science fiction
and a superhero film.
The films poster says that “an average person uses 10% of
their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%.” Right away you know that you can’t take the science or the fiction
too seriously. Once we have that out of the way, you can just sit back and
enjoy what comes your way.
Set in Taipei, Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is a student who is
forced to deliver a briefcase by her friend. Reluctantly, she does that only to
be kept captive by the gangster dealing in drugs. A packet of a new lethal drug is stitched
inside her and when it breaks, Lucy can start increasing her brain capacity and
do the unthinkable, like control just about anything and everything around her.
Seeking revenge, Lucy sets out on a mission to destroy the
mafia boss and the drugs. Morgan Freeman
plays a scientist who knows a thing or two about unlocking the powers of the
brain and is an expert in that field.
There is a scene at the beginning where Freeman talks about
the evolution of mankind and the usage of the brain (reminiscent ofAlain
Resnais’ My American Uncle) that was fine but later when they tried to
juxtapose science and the action it got a little farfetched at the point. If
there was any metaphysical point that was made, then I missed it.
But still Lucy
provides a few thrills – it is fast paced, has a decent concept which is
hypothetically interesting. Since it is
a Luc Besson film, a car chase on the streets of Paris is mandatory. The direction otherwise is pedestrian, as it
usually happens in Bollywood films, what is shown on screen is also explained
with dialogue. “Look the computer is moving” a character says – the audience doesn’t
have to be told that, they can clearly see
that the computer is moving.
Scarlett Johansson is first rate, whether it is the action
or the trauma scenes, she pull it off convincingly. Clearly Besson has used 10%
of the brain while writing the screenplay, else Lucy would have been even more
fun.
Published in The Navhind Times on 3rd Aug 2014
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