I F*ng love science

Rating: 3/10 (18 September 2014)

Scarlett Johansson proves beyond a doubt that she is able to carry the lead actress role in this sci-fi action flick. The camera work and narrative ambiance starts off marvelously. But around twenty minutes into the movie everything starts falling apart as relentless and repetitive force-feeding of pseudo-scientific and underdeveloped philosophical gibberish is applied in a sad attempt to legitimize the developing story line. If you manage to swallow the entirety these factual misnomers you may suffer from having no education or sense of rational thought and may also be eligible to blissfully enjoy the ensuing turn of events.
Have you ever felt at risk of becoming dumber by the process of watching a movie? I regularly enjoy movies that violate laws of physics. However, it is imperative that the movie's setting allows for that to happen. Lucy doesn't. The parallel story line employs Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman) as the scientific genius alibi. If you pay attention to his "lectures" you may notice this is not science class but rather something at the crossroads of a pseudoscience, scientology and self-motivational course. At this point I should probably disclaim that I am a molecular biologist by profession and proceed to tell you that I was genuinely outraged by the audacious amounts of ignorance displayed throughout this movie.
Sitting at the theater this evening, my brain leapt in and out of sync with the movie due to the constant realism glitches occurring under false pretenses. For some reason I kept thinking of "The Doors of Perception" by Aldous Huxley in which he subjectively describes the immediate psychological effects upon ingesting mescaline and LSD. Such psychoactive and hallucinogenic drugs actually work by switching on cerebral neuronal pathways that by default (and apparently by good rights) are switched off. This goes to prove the point that cerebral activity in no way correlates with attainment of super-human powers.
The pharmacological effects that the fictional drug in the movie exerts on Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is irreconcilable with everything in medicine and the story line is shamelessly based on these discrepancies set in action as visualized by unlimited CGI artistic freedom: Wouldn't the sensation of pain be expected to be augmented to excruciating levels following a proposed 1000% increase of cerebral activity? Care to elaborate on the accompanying moral deprivation that makes it OK to kill or help people entirely on random, but first and foremost makes her really narcissistic and sadistic? If Einstein dropped his pen, wouldn't it still fall to the ground; Why shouldn't laws of physics apply to someone who is allegedly more intelligent or aware? How can increased intelligence allow Lucy â€“ possessing no prior concepts of cell biology or drug metabolismâ€“ to figure out what is happening to her in such detail? Why were the internment mafia thugs specifically instructed not to kick Lucy in the lower abdomen, considering the surgical procedure that had just been performed for the sole purpose of drug trafficking? How can Lucy possibly benchmark her cerebral capacity as a percentage? How can the final scenes of the movie where Lucy ad libitum creates matter and baffles the professorial board with some senselessly uttered line of thought be justified in any conceivable way? Omnipotence, dinosaurs and a black hole USB flash drive to top it off: are you serious?
The movie clearly begs the question: what is human and which aspects and ideals of human nature are worth cultivating. But how can you honestly care at this point as you contemplate whether to risk a cerebral meltdown or run for the closest theater exit?