LUCY C
France (90 mi)
2014 ‘Scope d: Luc
Besson Official
site [Japan]
Luc Besson is a
director that has the subtlety of a Mack truck, preferring to accentuate an
adolescent, comic book style version of ultra violence, where this is little
more than another shoot ‘em up movie, as bullets are flying throughout this
film. While the film attempts to
establish tension and pace, using standard movie techniques of big budgeted
Hollywood films, this is something of a cross between the ludicrous and most
ridiculous realms of Christopher Nolan’s INCEPTION (2010) and Brian De Palma’s The Fury
(1978), though arguably less entertaining, where at $40 million dollars this
plays out more like a futuristic B-movie where the accent is on the visual
design. Short on ideas (written by the
director), the film borrows liberally from other sources, mainly the sadistic
violence of Korean films, where Choi Min-sik as Mr. Jang is one of the faces
associated with Park Chan-wook’s The Vengeance Trilogy (2002 – 2005), mixed
with an exaggerated Eurotrash action sensibility that attempts to boggle the
mind with macho action sequences and the achievement of Godlike human
consciousness, where Scarlett Johansson as Lucy, the same name as the original
ape primate that was estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago, goes from a
helpless kidnapped victim drugged with a high concentration of a mysterious
wonder drug that suddenly gives her superpowers. It’s like the ultimate H.G. Wells fantasy
from The Island of Dr. Moreau, his
1896 science-fiction novel, where he incorporates genetic experimentation
through his ideas on The Limits of Individual Plasticity,
where animals can theoretically be bio-engineered into stronger and more
intelligent versions of their natural molecular components, becoming super
creatures that can rule their species.
Rather than a race of defective, genetically altered mutants, the result
of failed experimentation, this one inexplicably succeeds, turning Lucy into a
highly evolved being with super consciousness, including superhuman strength,
telepathy, telekinesis, time travel, or the ability to stop time altogether,
where she can alter physics and matter with her mind. The scientific narrator droning on throughout
is Morgan Freeman, completely wasted as Professor Norman, an expert on human
consciousness seen giving a lecture where he claims humans can only use 10% of
their brain, where anything beyond that is pure conjecture.
Perhaps unwittingly,
once again it’s Scarlett Johansson playing this super consciousness, as she did
as a computer generated voice of artificial intelligence in Spike Jonze’s Her (2013),
where she was only heard and never seen, evolving too fast for the human race,
eventually connecting to other forms of artificial intelligence, creating their
own metaphysical world of superior intelligence. In Jonathan Glazer’s Under
the Skin (2013), she plays a more highly evolved extraterrestial creature
visiting earth with vile ulterior motives but becomes fascinated with the idea
of being human, where here she is again in human form, where her capabilities
are too complex and can only be expressed through computer generated special
effects that include some cheesy forms of animation. In every one of these performances, Johansson
adds her own sexual emphasis, using her female guile like a black widow spider
to lure unsuspecting men into traps where they may remain stuck or destroyed in
some capacity. All the more interesting
that she is the one initially trapped by the smoothtalking charm of her
boyfriend Richard (Pilou Asbæk) that she’s only known for a week, attempting to
coerce her into running an errand for him by delivering a locked suitcase to a
Mr. Jang at the front desk of an upscale hotel.
Not knowing the contents, she refuses, but before she can walk away, he
handcuffs her wrist to the briefcase.
Only Mr. Jang has the key. This
set of circumstances is intercut with footage of wild animals stalking their
prey, cheetahs hunting antelope or a mouse approaching a baited trap, giving an
all-too-obvious, over-the-top feel of forced exaggeration, where characters are
entirely expressed through stereotypes, as Mr. Jang ominously arrives with his
armed yakuza henchmen and life as she knew it is over. From behind the desk of a penthouse suite in
a sleek skyscraper, Mr. Jang is consolidating the world’s supply of CPH4, an
experimental pharmaceutical drug used in pregnancy to help regenerate cell
growth. Taken in huge quantities this
has superhuman effects, but we only discover this when they surgically insert
plastic packages of this drug into the intestines of unwitting subjects,
turning them into drug mules where the plan is to transport packages all over
the world. In Lucy’s case, the bag
bursts inside her abdomen sending the drug racing through her bloodstream,
expressed in a mind-altering moment that alters the power dynamic. From that point on, men with guns are no
longer a concern for her, which she quickly demonstrates in amusing
fashion.
Shot in Taipei,
Taiwan (though Mr. Jang and his henchmen speak Korean), Besson often uses
fast-motion, stream-of-conscious speeds, while also backtracking to prehistoric
conditions when humans had not yet evolved, where only apes roamed the
earth. Similarly, modernity is expressed
in animalistic fashion by a world run by the mob, street gangs, drug addicts,
and corrupt cops. Like Superman eradicating crime from the streets
with superpowers, Lucy takes on the force of evil initially through telepathy,
as she has the capacity to absorb knowledge instantly, but can also move
objects with her mind while discovering she is immune to pain. She begins accessing more and more of her
brain capacity, where the screen continually updates her current status until
near the end she reaches the maximum of 100%, sharing much of her experience
with Professor Norman, who can’t offer much wisdom in the area where she’s
traveling, seen working two computers simultaneously at blazing speed. While there should be an accompanying mental
challenge to the viewer as she reaches new realms, but it’s all done by special
effects, copying much of what we already saw in INCEPTION, spending much of her
time inside her head, focusing on the instantaneous expansion even as she knows
her life cycle will end soon, where she’s literally fighting against time. All the more reason that the continuing
attempts by Mr. Jang to exact his mob revenge against the escaped Lucy seem
silly, becoming absurdly ridiculous when bringing out a bazooka, carrying no
element of suspense, adding nothing to the story except predictability, where
Besson litters the screen with endless shootouts that prove nothing, especially
when Lucy is rapidly evolving before our eyes into the future of humanity, all
within 24 hours. Besson delivers the
film that he envisioned, as it resembles all his other heavy-handed works of
stereotypical cliché’s and mindless violence, though special effects nerds may
love to watch while staring at a badass Scarlett Johansson who has little
acting required, growing increasingly distant and cold, as she simply looks
pensively into her own head.
Unfortunately, the effects aren’t any more unusual than watching
Spielberg’s MINORITY REPORT (2002), which was more than a decade ago, a more
intriguing futuristic story by Philip K. Dick that featured much better
acting. There is no room for character
development in a film that can only deliver cardboard cutouts, generating
little sympathy for anyone onscreen, even a superhero lead character that is
supposedly saving the world.
