Flawed but fun

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2014)

Lucy has an experimental drug surgically inserted into her abdomen (against her will) by an oriental gang which wants to use her as a drugs mule. The bag leaks its contents into her which stimulates changes whereby she can increase the capacity of her brain to 100% from the 10% which is the normal maximum from humans. This gives her increasing control over her own body, other people, matter, energy and all sorts. But a clock is ticking, and the drug lord wants revenge...
This is essentially a superhero origin movie, in which Scarlett Johansson plays a character who goes through some serious changes, giving her a wide range to play (which she does very well). There is some fun action, sprinkled with decent effects, and enough storyline to hold your interest until the end.
There are also some major flaws, and these may be dealbreakers. They include, but are not limited to:
The 10% of our brains thing. One, it isn't true and, two, the way it is presented in the film makes it clear it isn't true, and the fact that such nonsense is delivered in expository chunks by "foremost world expert" Morgan Freeman to a symposium makes this even more laughable. Freeman is there because his "elder statesman" persona adds gravitas and, therefore, spurious credibility, as does the symposium setting, but it is all too obvious that this element is there to provide the audience with a) an information dump for the rules the plot is playing by, and b) a ticking clock.
Lucy's changes give her control over her body. We are told this, and we see her doing it. So how come the changes will kill her? Given that she has control of her body on a molecular level, why can't she modify the apparently fatal changes?
Given how ready she is to kill the gangsters who got her into this, why does she spare the gang boss, thus giving him the opportunity to come after her later on?
How come her abilities don't enable her to take action near the end, thus saving many lives?
Having mentioned the flaws, I have to go on to say that I enjoyed the film, I loved Johansson's performance, and I was greatly taken with an audacious, unexpected, but fitting ending.