Lucy - Scarlett Johansson
May. 25th, 2015 05:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beren_writesWarning first, this post will be full of spoilers, it's not really a review, more just my thoughts having seen the film Lucy. I may do a proper review at a later date.
So last night Rob and I finally got around to watching Lucy staring Scarlett Johansson. How to put this ... I was underwhelmed.
I thought Scarlett was very good and Morgan Freeman was, well Morgan Freeman, 'nough said, and the rest of the cast was decent too, but the film simply lacks something.
I liked the underlying concept and it was entertaining, but the closer we got to the end the more unfulfilling it felt.
For those who haven't seen it, but are still reading, the film is about Lucy, who delivers this briefcase for her boyfriend because he cuffs it to her arm so she has to. Unfortunately she is delivering it to some Asian mafia types who kill her boyfriend and turn her into a mule by surgically putting a bag of a new drug into her abdomen. She then gets kicked in the stomach by an a-hole and the bag leaks into her system.
All through this we are also seeing Morgan Freeman give a lecture on the potential of the brain should we humans start using more than 15% of it's capacity (I thought someone had proved we use most of it, but maybe I'm remembering wrong).
Anyway, you can guess what happens - the drug, a synthetic version of a chemical which initiates major biological changes in a foetus during gestation, allows Lucy to increase her brain usage. At 20% she can control herself (no pain, no fear etc), 40% she can control others and after that matter and eventually time.
She goes chasing from Asia to Europe to meet with Morgan Freeman to pass on the knowledge she is gaining and to get the rest of the drug in three other press-ganged drug mules. Of course the big bads follow her and she kicks their arses.
My problem is the plot is about as deep as a small puddle.
There are no twists and turns. It didn't end as terribly as I thought it might - I had a suspicion Lucy might end up going back in time and being the mother of the human race, but I don't think that happened (I could be wrong she did go back and meet Lucy (Australopithecus) - but if that's what that scene was supposed to mean it failed). However, the film continued after than and the ending was naff. It felt as if the writer hadn't really been sure what they were trying to say with it so the audience didn't have a hope of getting it.
Then there was the huge gun fight at the end - WHY??
This is a woman who took out a whole floor of police officers with a thought and a hall full of baddies with a couple of swishes of her fingers. All she had to do was take a nanosecond out of giving her knowledge to Morgan Freeman and there would have been no need for a blood bath.
It would have been much more interesting for, say, one of the baddie to think - hang on a minute, this drug made her invincible, why don't I try it... or something like that. There was one fanatical henchman who would have been perfect for it. It would have been especially interesting, because the more their brains turn on, the less interested in human things the individuals become and so they could have had a huge battle going on where he suddenly decided to stop, because, why bother. It could have been awesome.
Or there are plenty of other options, but, no. I assume the writer thought he had to give the male, French cop something to do, he couldn't just be there to prop up the female character and stare around helplessly - that's only for female or minor sidekicks, clearly.
Also, don't get me started on the pen drive of infinity that sparkles 'My god, it's full of stars!' - I can only think the proto-human bit and the sparkly pen drive were an homage to 2001.
I was entertained by the film, mostly, but when it finished I was disappointed. It felt like not very well written fanfic - you know the kind, where the writer has an awesome idea with great characters, but fails horribly at the plot.
So who else has seen the movie? What did you think?
So last night Rob and I finally got around to watching Lucy staring Scarlett Johansson. How to put this ... I was underwhelmed.
I thought Scarlett was very good and Morgan Freeman was, well Morgan Freeman, 'nough said, and the rest of the cast was decent too, but the film simply lacks something.
I liked the underlying concept and it was entertaining, but the closer we got to the end the more unfulfilling it felt.
For those who haven't seen it, but are still reading, the film is about Lucy, who delivers this briefcase for her boyfriend because he cuffs it to her arm so she has to. Unfortunately she is delivering it to some Asian mafia types who kill her boyfriend and turn her into a mule by surgically putting a bag of a new drug into her abdomen. She then gets kicked in the stomach by an a-hole and the bag leaks into her system.
All through this we are also seeing Morgan Freeman give a lecture on the potential of the brain should we humans start using more than 15% of it's capacity (I thought someone had proved we use most of it, but maybe I'm remembering wrong).
Anyway, you can guess what happens - the drug, a synthetic version of a chemical which initiates major biological changes in a foetus during gestation, allows Lucy to increase her brain usage. At 20% she can control herself (no pain, no fear etc), 40% she can control others and after that matter and eventually time.
She goes chasing from Asia to Europe to meet with Morgan Freeman to pass on the knowledge she is gaining and to get the rest of the drug in three other press-ganged drug mules. Of course the big bads follow her and she kicks their arses.
My problem is the plot is about as deep as a small puddle.
There are no twists and turns. It didn't end as terribly as I thought it might - I had a suspicion Lucy might end up going back in time and being the mother of the human race, but I don't think that happened (I could be wrong she did go back and meet Lucy (Australopithecus) - but if that's what that scene was supposed to mean it failed). However, the film continued after than and the ending was naff. It felt as if the writer hadn't really been sure what they were trying to say with it so the audience didn't have a hope of getting it.
Then there was the huge gun fight at the end - WHY??
This is a woman who took out a whole floor of police officers with a thought and a hall full of baddies with a couple of swishes of her fingers. All she had to do was take a nanosecond out of giving her knowledge to Morgan Freeman and there would have been no need for a blood bath.
It would have been much more interesting for, say, one of the baddie to think - hang on a minute, this drug made her invincible, why don't I try it... or something like that. There was one fanatical henchman who would have been perfect for it. It would have been especially interesting, because the more their brains turn on, the less interested in human things the individuals become and so they could have had a huge battle going on where he suddenly decided to stop, because, why bother. It could have been awesome.
Or there are plenty of other options, but, no. I assume the writer thought he had to give the male, French cop something to do, he couldn't just be there to prop up the female character and stare around helplessly - that's only for female or minor sidekicks, clearly.
Also, don't get me started on the pen drive of infinity that sparkles 'My god, it's full of stars!' - I can only think the proto-human bit and the sparkly pen drive were an homage to 2001.
I was entertained by the film, mostly, but when it finished I was disappointed. It felt like not very well written fanfic - you know the kind, where the writer has an awesome idea with great characters, but fails horribly at the plot.
So who else has seen the movie? What did you think?
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-26 12:10 pm (UTC)