One star. Rated R, for strong violence, dramatic intensity and mild sensuality
By Derrick Bang
Goodness, what an abomination.
This ghastly excuse for a movie
blends the worst elements of spring’s Transcendence
and the loopy “Star Gate” sequence from 2001:
A Space Odyssey, with the “creation of the universe” nonsense from Tree of Life tossed in, for no
particular reason.
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| Her senses heightened by a powerful designer drug, Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) finds that she can "see" lines that represent cell phone conversations; she therefore sorts through them until finding a key chat between the thugs waiting to ambush her. |
And you thought this was a
standard-issue revenge thriller? Think again.
French filmmaker Luc Besson is a
one-man movie machine, with more than 100 titles to his credit during the past
three decades: most as producer, but also quite a few as writer and/or
director. He’s best known for helming high-octane action epics such as La Femme Nikita and The Professional, and he also created Jason Statham’s enormously
popular Transporter series.
Besson’s hits have made pots of
money, which have allowed him the luxury of self-indulgent vanity projects such
as Angel-A and the children’s series
that began with Arthur and the Invisibles.
To put it kindly, such efforts have done little to burnish his reputation.
Lucy may tarnish it for several years. Not even
the promise of three more Transporter
entries is likely to compensate for this jaw-dropping example of pointless,
wretched excess.
Besson directed and takes sole
writing credit on this mess, so he deserves all the blame. And although
Universal’s marketing strategy suggests a Nikita-esque
thriller with Scarlett Johansson as the wronged, hard-charging protagonist,
that’s a serious mishandling of this film’s actual nature.
Veteran filmgoers will feel
nervous from the moments the lights dim, as we watch a CGI representation of
... cells dividing.
Say what?
Next up: a short prehistoric
visit with AL 288-1, the female Australopithecus
afarensis dubbed “Lucy” by anthropologists wise enough to recognize the
value of shorter headlines.
Say what what?
After which, finally, we launch
into what feels like familiar thriller territory, with an on-the-move
introduction to Lucy (Johansson), a carefree American student livin’ la vida loca in Taiwan. At the moment,
though, she’s wisely resisting a request by recent hook-up Richard (Pilou
Asbaek) to deliver a briefcase to unknown parties at a posh hotel. Alas, Lucy’s
self-preservational instincts aren’t fast enough to prevent Richard from
handcuffing the case to her wrist.
