Cinema Report #32 - Lucy
I had expected a nice SciFi movie about a person who involuntary gains superhuman powers and uses them to revenge herself with some nice action scenes. What I got was all that, wrapped in a movie-long theory / documentary about using more brain-power. Or rather, that part was kind of interwoven with the story of the film. And there even was some fun, too.
It may seem a bit odd at times, when actual scenes out of documentaries get shown on a regular basis - or even the lecture held by Morgan Freeman, who plays the professor who published his theories about using more brain-power. On the other hand, this may be the cleverest way to present this idea to the audience. These explanations certainly were easier to understand than some of what we get shown by Lucy herself.
Of course, her approach is more practical and it soon becomes clear that although she lacks understanding in the beginning, her knowledge is far greater than that of any professor. It seemed to me, just as she struggled at times to understand what was happening to her, she had difficulties of explaining it to others. Scarlett Johansen is very good at giving an almost alien-like performance, because Lucy soon is far more than anything we would call “human” and she is aware of that.
I also liked that French police officer, since he represented the “normal” person and their view-point rather well. He goes smoothly from disbelief to acceptance, because what else is there to do? He even asks if he really is of any use to Lucy, instead of just sticking around without real purpose - and it was lovely to see that she had a use for him indeed, as a reminder of being human and trusted ally. Since he is as fascinated by her as any of the smart professors, he does his best to help her. In contrast to those clever guys, who seem to fear Lucy’s abilities or rather how her knowledge may change the world, the police officer has no second thoughts and doesn’t hesitate to put his life at risk (as long as she isn’t driving the car).
The effects were wonderful and very varied. Lucy hardly seems to use the same trick twice to achieve what she wants and she constantly develops new abilities. Most of the time, you get the impression that the hidden secrets of the world look rather beautiful in her eyes, but it also becomes quite clear when she gets uncomfortable about this new knowledge.
It’s downright scary when her evolved cells begin to dissolve her in order to stay alive - and it turns sad when this forces her to take in more of that drug. When she phones her mother to say goodbye, it’s very moving and I believe it’s the point where she also realizes that she’s losing her humanity.
Although the end is full of action and she “saves” herself in the very last moment, it comes rather abrupt. I wished they had shown what the professors do with the knowledge she gave them and if she’ll stay in contact with the world like a guardian spirit, or if she has or wants to leave it all behind and move on to something / someplace else.