What starts off with promise quickly descends into a generic action film.

Rating: 4/10 (25 July 2014)

Luc Besson has been a filmmaker that has consistently delivered some of the best action films of all time. From Leon to The Fifth Element, Besson has solidified himself as an action auteur. However, Lucy stands as a perfect example of seeing a legend overshadowed by a long and lengthy career. Lucy stars Scarelett Johansson as the titular character, a normal woman who is injected with a super drug. Before the film really gets going, we don't spend enough time with Lucy as what she would normally be. Before we know it, Lucy is soon injected with a mysterious serum that is some sort of super drug that is simply a more amped up version of the Limitless pill and then we slowly stop caring about her character because she is everything short of invincible at this point. Lucy's premise offers a lot of promise but its execution is something completely different. The action sequences are bland, played out and down right ridiculous. Usually that's a good thing for a film of this type, but what makes Lucy the exception is the terrible editing and poorly written plot. For the first 40 minutes of the film, you're engaged in the film. The story takes off immediately, starting with a voice-over from Johansson that proves to be pointless and useless by the end of its brisk 90 minute runtime. This is half a good film, half a really incoherent mess of a film. Johansson's attempt at being a brutal bad-ass collapses right around the time Lucy starts to access more than 50% of her brain. While her performance is commendable and she gets an A for effort, I simply don't buy it. Morgan Freeman plays virtually the same character here as he did in Transcendence and, much like that film, it gets tiresome after seeing it a couple times. The film descends into one pointless twist after another until you finally are asking yourself "what the hell is going on?" There are some great scenes of action that seem very carefully choreographed in the beginning along with a car chase sequence that was pretty awesome as well. Despite these two good qualities, it isn't anywhere near enough to save Lucy from poorly written dialog, terrible plot twists and an overall lack of coherence.