Lucy Movie Review

Rating: 7/10 (11 August 2014)

This review may contain spoilers.
Having not seen the trailer before going to see "Lucy," I was unsure exactly what to expect. Ultimately, I left the theatre with mixed feelings about this film, which was both written and directed by Luc Besson.
The film begins with Lucy, played by Scarlett Johansson, being talked into delivering a briefcase for someone she barely knows. Unbeknownst to Lucy, the briefcase is filled with a synthetic drug which allows humans to maximize their brain's full potential. The great Professor Norman's lectures show the scientific explanation of such things as "The Big Bang Theory" and the evolution of the animal kingdom and humans alike.
Near the film's end, Lucy, who was previously captured and used as a human vessel for transporting the drugs, attempts to attach herself to a computer. (The drugs leaked out into her body. While this allowed her to access 100% of her brain's power, the drugs also destroyed her physical body.) By attaching to the computer, she was preserving her journey for Professor Norman, who had been studying the human brain for decades. This is where the film really took an unexpected turn, as it became full-blown sci-fi and very strange (i.e., Lucy is sitting in an office chair in the middle of a body of water with a monkey). While the film revisits the evolutionary process in just under 90 minutes, I feel the film would have been better-served if it had simply ended 10-15 minutes before it actually did.
Great use of music and imagery throughout, coupled with non-stop action and occasional humor, made for an entertaining film. Perhaps this film is not for those who are very young, very knit-picky about facts, or very religious.