When I saw the trailer for this movie months ago, I was bowled over. The premise, silly science aside, allowed for all manner of awesome, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier left me very pro-Scarlett Johansson. I faithfully did my part in the battle to get a Black Widow movie by seeing Lucy opening weekend.
My verdict? Not as great as I was hoping. The film seems a little conflicted about what it wants to be, and the resulting blend of sci-fi, action, philosophy, sex appeal, and violence feels disjointed. Still, it's undeniably cool, and any ridiculousness is outweighed by the great time I had.
Lucy is an American student staying in Taiwan, an ordinary woman who gets mixed up in some incredibly serious business. The upshot is that she's made a mule for a powerful new drug that's a lot more than its makers intended; when the bag breaks open inside her and the drug enters her bloodstream, it kickstarts an evolution the likes of which humanity has never seen.
Based on the old saw about humans only using 10% of their brains, the rather insane explanation is that the drug, rewriting Lucy's biology, allows her to employ more and more of her cerebral capacity. Yes, it's goofy, but that's not the important part. What's important is that it hand waves an excuse for Lucy to start becoming a god. It begins with lightning-fast knowledge acquisition and greatly increased control over her own body (woman's got moves, plus she can change her appearance at will,) and moves on to controlling other people/matter and essentially plugging herself into the universe. She enlists a bewildered police officer to help in her attempts to get more of the drug - her body isn't coping well with the rapid-fire changes, and she thinks the drug is the only thing that will keep her going a bit longer - and evade the crime ring trying to get their product back.
Tons of cool sci-fi-ish action ensues, along with a handful of more introspective moments. There are meditations on life, humanity, and time, among others. The further Lucy goes down the rabbit hole of exploring her new abilities, the more she feels she's losing the fundamentally human part of herself, and she's not sure how much she should try to keep ahold of it. Additionally, she wonders what she should do with all her newfound understanding in the presumably-little time she has left: what is her responsibility to her species? What should she leave behind?
Oh, and Johansson is awesome. She completely nails Lucy's terror and confusion early in the film, and as she starts to change, she takes on an almost robotic sense of calm that still coveys intelligence and intuition. While distant, she never feels detached. She's predictably great in the action scenes - just fantastic to watch - but the film's standout scene is stripped of all bells and whistles. It's a long, still closeup as, on the phone with her mother, Lucy tries to explain what's happening to her. And it's incredible.
Warnings
Lots of violence, sexual content, swearing, drug use, and some disturbing images.
No comments:
Post a Comment