Lucy

Plot synopsis:
In the opening shot, we see a cell split up into multiple other cells. Then we see a proto-human in prehistoric times drinking from a lake. Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) narrates by saying that life began billions of years ago, and ponders just what we have done with it since then.In the present, Lucy is a young American woman outside a hotel in Taiwan with her week-long boyfriend Richard (Pilou Asbæk). He is asking her to take a briefcase up to the room of a Mr. Jang (Min-sik Choi). Even though offered $500, she refuses to do anything for Richard without knowing what it is that he wants her to deliver, so he handcuffs Lucy's wrist to the handle of the briefcase, leaving her with no choice. She enters the lobby and tells the clerk that Richard is sending her up to Jang, and then nervously gives her name to the clerk. Lucy looks out the window to see Richard smiling and trying to be encouraging, until he is shot and killed. A group of thugs come out of the elevator and force Lucy to go up with them. This scene is juxtaposed with footage of a cheetah chasing a gazelle, mauling it and then carrying the gazelle's corpse in its teeth.They take Lucy to Jang's apartment. There are bloodied corpses on the floor, causing Lucy to vomit. Jang comes out with his hands soaked in blood. He rings up a man on the phone to translate for Lucy. She cries, not knowing what is going on or why any of this is happening. Jang writes down number '140' on a piece of paper, which is the code to open the briefcase. Jang steps into the next room while his men arm themselves with guns and shields. Lucy opens the briefcase, which contains four 1 kg bags of blue powdered crystals. Jang brings in a drugged-up man to snort some of the blue powder. The man briefly convulses and then starts laughing maniacally until Jang shoots him in the head. Lucy is then ordered to do a job, which she refuses to do until she gets smacked.Lucy wakes up in a hotel room. There is a bandage on her stomach. Jang's men come in and throw her some clothes. She is taken to Jang, along with three other men. A British man known as "The Limey" (Julian Rhind-Tutt) comes in to explain to Lucy that she and the other men have had a drug called CPH4 stuffed into their lower intestines. The drug is supposed to be the next big thing on the market, and they intend to smuggle it across the world. Afterwards, Lucy is taken to a room and chained up, where one of the thugs, tries to get into her jeans, then starts kicking her in the stomach, right where they cut into her. This causes a tear in the drug bag, leaking the powder into Lucy's system. She begins to writhe and thrash all across the room, even reaching up to the ceiling until she falls back down to the floor.As all of this happens, we meet Professor Samuel Norman (Morgan Freeman) giving a lecture to a classroom on his research of the brain's capacity. He essentially explains what could happen if humans could exceed beyond the suggested 10% brain capacity that they use, as well as its responses to certain environments that would allow the brain to submit to immortality or reproduction. Basically, if the subject doesn't like their environment, they would choose immortality and move elsewhere, but if they were happy with their setting, they would be inclined to reproduce (complete with images of every species engaging in intercourse). If, say, humans could reach up to 40%, they could manipulate matter (footage of a magic show is juxtaposed here as an example). One student asks Norman what would happen if humans reached 100%. He says he has no idea.Lucy reawakens, with her eyes glowing bright blue. She sits upright, calmer than before. A thug comes into the room, and Lucy spreads her legs to tempt him. The thug smiles and lays down his gun on the table. As he walks over to her, Lucy grabs his belt and flips him over, then pulls the table over to take the gun. After she frees herself, she shoots the other thugs as they're eating. She gets shot in the shoulder, but is able to dig the bullet out without feeling pain. She then eats all the thugs' food before leaving. She finds two taxi drivers outside, kills one and gets one of them to take her to the hospital.On her way to the hospital, Lucy has heightened senses and is able to hear peoples' voices from outside the car. When she gets to the hospital, she is able to clearly read the signs as if they were in English to her. She gets to an operating room where doctors are working on a man. Lucy looks at the patient's X-ray scans and then shoots the man, stating to the doctors that they wouldn't have been able to save him because the tumor in his brain had already spread far enough. She forces the doctors to take the bag out of her stomach. She then calls her mother to tell her that she feels everything - the air, the blood in her veins, the heat leaving her body, and is even able to access the deepest parts of her memories, like when she was sick as a child or even petting a cat when she was barely a year old. She tells her mother that she loves her before hanging up. The doctor pulls the bag of drugs out of Lucy's stomach, and after she tells him that it's CPH4, he tells her that this is something that pregnant women produce six weeks into their pregnancy as nutrients for the fetus, and that the doctor is surprised Lucy has survived this long with it in her body.Lucy makes one more stop back to the hotel to find Jang as he is in the middle of getting a tattoo and a facial. She kills his guards and then shoos the tattoo artist away before sticking knives in both of Jang's hands. With her newfound powers, she does a Vulcan mind meld into his brain and sees where the other three drug mules are going based on images of their plane tickets. She leaves, and Jang lets out a pained scream.Lucy goes to the apartment of her friend Caroline (Analeigh Tipton) to use her laptop. She reads all of Norman's research in a matter of seconds, then contacts him to tell him what she's read. He is astonished to hear that she read everything, even as she continues to explain what she is feeling and experiencing, now that she has reached up to 20% brain capacity. She is able to manipulate electronics, making her appearance on the TV in Norman's hotel room, as well as his phone and the radio. She plans to meet with him in 12 hours. Before leaving, she prints out a prescription for Caroline, telling her that her liver and kidneys are failing and that she needs to make new lifestyle choices and she'll be okay.The news about Lucy shooting the patient has spread, so as she makes her way through the airport, she changes her hair color and style. She calls a French policeman, Captain Pierre Del Rio (Amr Waked), to inform him of the other drug mules. She then boards the plane and continues her research on the brain, typing on her laptop at rapid-fire pace. The flight attendants ask her to turn off her computer, and Lucy asks for a glass of champagne, while also telling one flight attendant to wipe her nose without looking, and the lady's nose bleeds after. Lucy is given the champagne glass and toasts "To knowledge." She sips, and then "40%" flashes onscreen. She discovers a tooth in her glass, and then she spits up three more teeth. Then her skin starts to disintegrate, in plain sight of the passengers and flight attendants. Lucy runs to the bathroom, where her fingers start to disappear, and her face begins to sort of melt. She pulls out the rest of the CPH4 and snorts it, restoring herself to normal, but she passes out.Lucy wakes up in a hospital room, with Del Rio and a few other officers and doctors waiting, right after they have apprehended the other mules. She sits up instantly, to the alarm of a nurse. Meanwhile, one of Jang's henchmen, Jii (Nicolas Phongpheth), comes in with more armed men to find the other mules. They take them into a room and cut the drugs out of them after killing them. Lucy leaves the room and is surrounded by armed men. With a wave of her fingers, she is able to put them all to sleep, except for Del Rio. Together, they find Jang's men, and, with her brain function now at 60%, she moves them around the hall and prevents Jii from escaping with the briefcase full of drugs by creating a sort of invisible wall. She swipes the drugs from Jii and starts to leave, but orders Del Rio to go with her. He thinks he is of no use to her, but she walks over to him and kisses him, asking him to come "as a reminder."Lucy uses her powers to find a new location, taking over Del Rio's car and driving manically through the streets, admitting she's never driven before. Jang and Jii follow her.Lucy and Del Rio find Norman and his colleagues in a university, where she begins to divulge all she has come to realize with her brain power now exceeding that of a normal human being. While this happens, Jang and his men infiltrate the place and start shooting. Lucy gives the rest of the CPH4 to the professors for them to synthesize into a liquid material that goes into her bloodstream. Her brain function goes to 70% and her hands start to turn into a black wormy sort of goo that attaches itself to the computers in the room, giving Lucy more energy from matter, and thereby supplying her with an insane amount of power. As her brain function continues to increase, she manipulates matter in such a way that she seems to erase everything in the room, leaving the professors standing in white space before creating some kind of new age super computer before their eyes. From outside, as Jang's men are shot down by the police, he orders Jii to do something. Jii takes a rocket launcher and blasts through the room, sending Lucy thousands of miles to Times Square. She manages to move time with a wave of her hand. She travels backwards, from early 20th century New York, to colonial times, even all the way to prehistoric times to come face-to-face with the proto - human from the opening scene. They touch fingers, sending Lucy through the cosmos and all of space and time, giving her unlimited and infinite power.Jang enters the room and slowly raises his gun to Lucy's head. And then she reaches 100%. Her body disappears, leaving her clothes behind. Jang fires his gun at nothing. Del Rio comes in and shoots Jang to death. The black matter in the room disappears and morphs into a flash drive that lands in Norman's hands, thus expanding and completing his research. Del Rio asks where Lucy is. A message appears on his phone saying, "I AM EVERYWHERE."The film concludes with an overhead shot of Jang's corpse while Lucy's voice says this is what can be done with life.

Tags: comedy, murder, violence, psychedelic, absurd, revenge, sadist

Review:
I am able to watch a fiction movie, am I not?Some people review this film negatively for its scientific value, ignoring the fact that this isn't a documentary.
If you're a Luc Besson fan, you won't be disappointed.Bad-*** car chase, science-fiction, sex appeal my goodness, Morgan "the man" Freeman, Chow Yun-Fat worthy shootout, visuals that will blow your-effing-mind, and it didn't even take 2 sequels and a prequel to do it.
Lucy is a sci-fi, action movie written and directed by Luc Besson.
The movie feels like it's split in two with the first half starting out fairly plausible and by the end of the movie grows into heavy CGI and sci-fi.Luc Besson is famous for Taken, Leon, The Fifth Element and The Transporter.
This film leans more towards The Fifth Element in its levels of sci-fi and plausibility but I personally believe Leon and Taken are his masterpieces.The acting in the movie is good for an action movie, never likely to receive Oscar nods.
Scarlet Johansson had some memorable scenes in the movie and she pulled off the change in her character superbly.The way the film shows the origins of humanity and the development of time, particularly in the end sequence is very impressive and well done.I was a little disappointed with the Soundtrack.
Lucy is a spectacularly ridiculous but very entertaining film which is the best one Luc Besson has directed in a long time...
For better or for worse, Lucy employs Besson's habitual style, combining abundant action, a creative visual style and an accelerated rhythm which, in this case, distract us from the parade of nonsense and inconsistencies from the screenplay (Hasn't the "we only use 10% of our brain" myth already been discarded?).
Besides, with only 89 minutes of running time, Lucy ends as quickly as it began, it never gets boring at all and it leaves us with some philosophical reflections I found interesting.
Lucy is not a great film, but it entertained me very much, and I recommend it as a pleasant distraction which doesn't require us to pay too much attention.
I generally like movies which manage to introduce new ideas or differ from the same old boring patterns (Iron Man 12, Final Destination 14, Transformers 8).
If I watched every sci-fi movie expecting it to correlate with real life physics then there would be no point of the genre.
Fair enough, this film starts from the premise that humans only use 10% of their brains and Lucy can break this barrier and reach a whole new level in human evolution.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." I personally enjoyed every bit of the movie and, as it took me to a journey into the far far future, where humans can overcome their humanity and become real Gods.Enjoy this film and let your mind explore the impossible..
I feel like this movie may be too much for some people to wrap their brains around but it has such great effects and fight scenes it could probably keep a teenager occupied for the full hour and a half (if their parents let them watch it).
Though, if you don't like action, Scarlett Johansson, surreal ideas or Morgan Freeman, you might not like this movie..
is one of the best movies about evolution that I've seen but to understand it you have to pay attention from the beginning as always Scarlet did an amazing role also Morgan did as always amazing, I recommend it for those who like to talk about where we came from, how the planet Earth was created..
I usually don't like the typical shoot- them-up or speculative-futuristic or robotic movies, they turn me off because they are predictable and way over the deep-end of ridiculousness in their violence, special effects, contradictions and same-old-same-old tin spaceships, weaponry galore, and silly story; like the script and story were just thrown together for the sake of selling something at the box office or TV.
but I cannot really complain because the overall brilliance of this film outshone any negatives I could detect.Scarlett Johansson was incredible as Lucy and it was astonishing to observe how her character changed so dramatically within just a few moments.
Perhaps that's just me bring too picky - I just feel that Lucy could have been better portrayed by someone slightly more masculine and cold.This film is one that will genuinely inspire you to think deeply about evolution, human nature, and life.
Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson in tail-kicking action-hero mode, is an appealing sci-fi thriller that posits interesting arguments about the human capacity for thought, fight, and flight.
The first movie in which I like Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman (I'm not the fan of anyone).
I went into watching this thinking "6.6; average but good enough for a night in" considering 22 jump street (which I stopped after the _painful_ first half hour) gets a 7.6 it makes me wonder about what the people rating movies on this site prefer.This film is quick, intelligent and has a number of good actors in it; if you watch it to the end you'll appreciate it, because (in my mind) it does everything right.
(good job on your censorship IMDb, words are just words and they have their place); stop reading.The whole 10% premise is false, I'll give it that along with the 'fact' that you somehow develop supernatural powers at higher than 10%; it's almost like someone saw the matrix, a supernatural film, an action film and thought "why not compress all of this into one film" as I've said in the title, if you're prepared to suspend disbelief, it works.
Unwitting protagonist, pressure of time put on said protagonist, some scifi in between and the mind control powers of Morgan Freeman's voice (seriously, they should get some real scientists on that; it would accelerate brainwashing research tenfold).From reading other reviews this film seems to be movie Marmite; you'll either love it or hate it..
I hear that a lot of people didn't like the movie, but I think it's definitely worth watching!
In fact, I find promoting blatant falsehoods that promote anti-evolutionary thinking a bit irresponsible, even for the sake of art and entertainment!Science education set aside, how does LUCY work as a movie?
And as far as movies go in which people develop godlike powers, LUCY doesn't beat the likes of THE MATRIX or SYMBOL (shimboru,2009).All in all an interesting but ultimately mediocre movie based on an utterly ridiculous (and intellectually dangerous) idea..
Color me tickled - two of the most talented actors out there - Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson in one movie, and Sci-Fi to boot!
Much of the beauty is found intellectually, with a good mix of black comedy.I enjoyed this movie so much that I would pay to see it again!Besson is evolving just as much as Lucy evolves in this movie and you may even find it thought provoking.
The movie probably require an audiences with certain level of scientific education or open mindedness in order to understand or appreciate what's going on In the story line Besson manages to successfully transform a drug heist movie onto a very good sci-fi thriller.Not for those who can't see outside the box, or are guided by a puritanical or religious culture.
I came into this film thinking it would be a visually pleasing, silly little scifi dependent on cool special effects and Scarlet Johansson's acting skills, but very soon I found that I was wrong.
For a while, it even segues between Lucy's story and that of Professor Norman (played by Morgan Freeman), who's trying to theorize what could happen if humans could use more parts of their brain.
The movie's also very inventively told, with intercutting shots of things like animals used to thematic effect, especially as we realize in what danger Lucy is, and the interstitial indicators of the percentage level of her brain function.I'm not surprised that Lucy already has a below-7 score, because it's a science-fiction thriller that asks questions.
Not only that but it was done well, clear and thought enough for you to atlas entertain the idea that "what if this were true"The drug concept was a very good twist on some movies that would have Used no creativity and just had a person born that could use 100% of their brain.I truly have no complaints about this movie but it takes a lot to give my movies a 10 and so I rare it a solid 9.
Originality isn't the point - taking good ideas (sometimes even actual footage) from lots of places and pushing them even further is.Before going on, let me directly address the premise that "we only use 10% of our brains".
This review may have some humor, yes, but still, my point remains: This is an absolutely terrible movie and the only good thing is that it came out in a very busy summer, because if this had a blockbuster amount of attention, I would be worried for Scarlett Johansens acting career.
Luc Besson is well known for directing Leon, however I told myself I am not going to watch another Leon or The Fifth Element from the director who made amazing movies 20 years ago.
Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman are amazing actors but I am shocked that they accepted to take part in this movie.
Lucy could easily be the best film of the year and should attract a lot more cinephiles to the movie theatres than it already does.
Just as Scarlett Johansson's character in the beginning, the viewer doesn't always understand what is going on when the Korean characters are talking and this adds even more tension to the plot and is a great element that is more and more employed in commercial movies as well.Lucy may not reinvent a whole genre but this science-fiction movie focuses on the best elements of science and a really gripping fiction.
Johansson looks good, but she never really makes the story come to life - this would take a bigger injection of whacky drugs than this movie can muster..
The movie mixes in some science with action and the two big stars, Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, are great.
Like some fun loving reviewers note, it's not at all trying to be scientifically correct - it's heavy on the fiction and demands of the viewer that you let go, sit back and enjoy the ride.I'll quote fellow reviewer thuffman-219-557602 who said it in simple and clear terms: "Bad-*** car chase, science-fiction, sex appeal my goodness, Morgan 'the man' Freeman, Chow Yun-Fat worthy shootout, visuals that will blow your-effing-mind, and it didn't even take 2 sequels and a prequel to do it." I reckon it's natural that this is by the creator of Leon - don't actually expect another Leon though, this is Luc Besson doing something different.
Neither should you expect deep character development or carefully pondering concepts in this express train of a movie.In summary, the action is good and unrelenting, the sci is perhaps more fantasy than science, but still entertaining if you let it be, and the fi ranges from gritty to moments of almost Olaf Stapledon wondrous..
As Morgan Freeman clearly stated in the film "we really do not know how a person would act if they accessed 100% of their brain." I applaud Luc Besson for showing us what the possibilities could be.
From the start I had a feeling that it is one of the bad karate movies from the early 80's you can't understand how she ended up where she was and Scarlet Johansons attempts to come across as highly evolved human being just laughable.
The only reason we went to see it is because of Morgan Freeman but even after watching it I still have a hard time believing that he would sign up for such a movie...
what i do know is whoever made this tripe doesn't know anything about the human brain or science or how to make a fuc5king movie.The acting is bad i doubt the actors where anymore interested in this movie then i was.the plot is terrible an annoying woman and her shady looking boyfriend are arguing outside of a building inter-cut with shots of random sh5it making this the most annoying conversation i have ever witnessed in my 26 years on this planet.
DRUGS what a shock are inside, and next thing you know there inside her and then a rapy guy kicks her in the stomach and she gets superpowers boredom and stupidity ensue.her plan is to get more of the drug she needs this drug to keep from becoming dust and blowing away (i do hope she didn't get her hands on anymore)"They explained in the movie that the drug was created by mothers when they were pregnant, and since she had complete control of her body, she should have been able to create it for herself" snagswolf.i only ended up at the cinema because i wanted to watch guardians of the galaxy imagine my disappointment when i found out that it was going to be released on the 7th in Australia like it's not bad enough i have to leave the house and watch a movie on someone eases terms no pausing no rewinding etc but you sons of bi5ches are going to make me wait another week then the rest of the world WTF??!!
I like the plot a lot as well, as it's very imaginative about what happens when people can use their brain completely.
Thumbs up to Scarlett Johansson for a great job.Even though Lucy had different twist and turns that you may not necessarily associate with the message of the movie, I enjoyed that I can take something from a movie that made me think beyond the entertainment aspect..
Review: The movie Lucy is an exhilarating, action packed thriller that will have you on edge every step of the way.
My first persuasion that she was a good actress came in The Prestige (2006) and Woody Allen's 'Match Point (2005)' and 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)' and even the bizarre noire 'Under the Skin (2013)'.In terms of completely capturing my imagination, it'll be hard for her to top her role as Lucy, in Luc Besson's current science fiction masterpiece of the same name.
I watch this movie twice it was fast paced and Entertaining action sci-fi flick!
I like Lucy and I think of Luc Besson there are three movies that I like: Léon: The Professional (1994), The Fifth Element (1997) which everyone know I am crazy about that Sci-Fi action movie and this one Lucy (2014).
Those three movies I just counted are really good movies and I love them so much.Lucy is one of those high-octane films from writer/director Luc Besson that gives the audience a fun entertaining action extravaganza set piece but with a plot that is so far out there that its not so fun and entertaining to relate to, unless of course you happen to be tripping' along with the films characters.
I am giving this movie a 10 because of Luc Besson, Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman as a science professor he did an outstanding perfect acting performance, he is awesome as always!!!
Lucy is a 2014 English-language French science fiction action film written and directed by Luc Besson and produced by his wife Virginie Silla for his company Europacorp.
The Movie starts with a very good mix of music, the comparisons with the reality (in the movie) and the different scene with the animals, the parallel Morgan Freeman storyteller, of course the actors, and one of the most important things, that I was so fascinated of the whole movie, all the time, that I didn't think of anything else.
If you don't think about the racist parts for a while - and I know a lot of people won't - this movie is pretty good.
"Lucy" is an action thriller movie in which we watch a woman who accidentally caught in a strange deal and now she has to fight her way back.
These powers cannot be understood by the people since they are very evolved and beyond the human logic.I liked this movie because of its interesting and new plot with a well-written script.
It was the first time I watched a movie with this kind of plot and it was a good surprise for me.
The interpretations of Scarlett Johansson who played Lucy and Morgan Freeman who played Professor Norman were simply amazing.To sum up, I have to say that "Lucy" is a good and interesting movie with which you are going to have a great time.
That didn't really bother me as it seemed to work but the transition could have been smoother.It was quite an emotionless film led by Scarlett Johansson but I did enjoy Morgan Freeman's role...as always.
The film in certain ways is a lot like Limitless, but at the same time it takes a very different overall approach and look on the subject of human evolution.
"Lucy" is the best of these and is, in fact, one of my all-time favorite movies.
On top of this, "Lucy" is stylish and "hip," whatever that means; in other words, it's got pizazz.Some complain that the film is flawed because it's based on the notion that we only use 10% of our brain power, but this is only a plot device to illustrate that most people are functioning way under their potential and are obsessed with usually worthless things and blowing precious time accordingly.
The beginning of the movie shows that Lucy was just like her roommate but something happened and...
They're all things that get in her way of reaching 100% brain capacity.However, this is still a Luc Besson movie, and Luc Besson likes his action scenes.
Don't forget that this is still a science fiction, and '10% of brain capacity' is just a vehicle to present some more complex concepts.The movie is fast paced, lot of action, beautiful cinematography and good performance of leading actress - Scarlett Johansson..