Lucy is one of those films that starts off with an interesting concept, but instead of building upon that strong start, decides to narratively cripple itself.
Overall, the problem lies in its inability to focus on a single subject and maintain a consistent tone: is it a crime film with a superbeing involved, a superhero/sci-fi film with crime elements along for the ride, or a sci-fi/philosophical film with a crime film and a superhero film clinging to it like barnacles? Does it want to be a ridiculously over-the-top action film in which Korean gangsters somehow bring rocket launchers into Parisian police stations, or does it want to be a serious, mature look at human evolution? The film can't make its mind up, and so it succeeds at being none of these things - not helped by the fact that the narrative flow is interrupted by clumsy expository lectures by Morgan Freeman, slowing down the story and muddying the tone even further.
Academy Award winner Scarlett Johansen spends most of the film speaking in a bland monotone and acting as if nothing surprises her. Post-drugburst, she has exactly two moments where she really gets to act and express emotion, and while these scenes number among some of the best in the entire movie (the phone call to her mother and her near-disintegration), once they're done, she's back to being a distant, unrelatable superbeing - to the point that things like seeing all of time and space and transcending reality itself barely stir the subtlest of emotions.
Meanwhile, Big Bad Mr Jang is an intimidating presence, but the trouble is, he's Starter Villain material: once Lucy begins ascending, she is so far beyond him that it becomes comical, meaning that any tension evaporates instantly. There's no attempt to level him up or replace him with a deadlier villain - just more of the same thing. I've heard this film compared to Akira, but in all honesty, the comparison would only work if Tetsuo remained pitted against the clown gang for all six volumes without ever upping the stakes.
Last but not least, the progression of Lucy's powers is not only depressingly undervalued by the film, but really boring to see in action up until the very end: she barely has a chance to show off any of them before being hurried off to the climax – another casualty of all the time wasted on lectures and Jang – and her big telekinesis demonstration has all the drama sucked out of it by the impotent villains.
The most interesting power on display is shapeshifting - partly because I'm a sucker for shapeshifting, but mostly because the hand-warping scene really shows off how creative the story could have been if it had a tiny bit of focus.
All in all, this film is where potential went to die. The soundtrack's nice, and there's a few really good scenes buried amidst the dross, but it otherwise raises little more than an almighty "meh."
Indecisive, unimaginative, and paradoxically unambitious
Lucy is one of those films that starts off with an interesting concept, but instead of building upon that strong start, decides to narratively cripple itself.
Overall, the problem lies in its inability to focus on a single subject and maintain a consistent tone: is it a crime film with a superbeing involved, a superhero/sci-fi film with crime elements along for the ride, or a sci-fi/philosophical film with a crime film and a superhero film clinging to it like barnacles? Does it want to be a ridiculously over-the-top action film in which Korean gangsters somehow bring rocket launchers into Parisian police stations, or does it want to be a serious, mature look at human evolution? The film can't make its mind up, and so it succeeds at being none of these things - not helped by the fact that the narrative flow is interrupted by clumsy expository lectures by Morgan Freeman, slowing down the story and muddying the tone even further.
Academy Award winner Scarlett Johansen spends most of the film speaking in a bland monotone and acting as if nothing surprises her. Post-drugburst, she has exactly two moments where she really gets to act and express emotion, and while these scenes number among some of the best in the entire movie (the phone call to her mother and her near-disintegration), once they're done, she's back to being a distant, unrelatable superbeing - to the point that things like seeing all of time and space and transcending reality itself barely stir the subtlest of emotions.
Meanwhile, Big Bad Mr Jang is an intimidating presence, but the trouble is, he's Starter Villain material: once Lucy begins ascending, she is so far beyond him that it becomes comical, meaning that any tension evaporates instantly. There's no attempt to level him up or replace him with a deadlier villain - just more of the same thing. I've heard this film compared to Akira, but in all honesty, the comparison would only work if Tetsuo remained pitted against the clown gang for all six volumes without ever upping the stakes.
Last but not least, the progression of Lucy's powers is not only depressingly undervalued by the film, but really boring to see in action up until the very end: she barely has a chance to show off any of them before being hurried off to the climax – another casualty of all the time wasted on lectures and Jang – and her big telekinesis demonstration has all the drama sucked out of it by the impotent villains.
The most interesting power on display is shapeshifting - partly because I'm a sucker for shapeshifting, but mostly because the hand-warping scene really shows off how creative the story could have been if it had a tiny bit of focus.
All in all, this film is where potential went to die. The soundtrack's nice, and there's a few really good scenes buried amidst the dross, but it otherwise raises little more than an almighty "meh."