To my jaded, cynical and seen-it-all eyes, most movies seem like garbage.
Thank God for the new Hollywood film Lucy from French director Luc Besson (also writer of the film).
In a rarity, I derived 150% value from my $11.25 ticket this evening.
A visually appealing, high octane thriller featuring Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman and Choi Min-sik, Lucy had me breathless at the end.
Luc Besson is a respected film-maker involved in production, writing and direction. Leon – The Professional (director), Wasabi (writer and producer) and Tell No One (producer) are some of the Besson films I’ve seen previously.
Brain Use
For the full 82-minutes, there was not a single second when I felt bored or my mind wandered.
Scarlett Johansson plays Lucy, a Taipei student beaten into becoming a drug mule for a Chinese gang.
The vicious gang led by Kang (played by the extraordinary Korean star Choi Min-sik of Oldboy and I Saw the Devil fame) implants a packet of the powerful synthetic CPH4 drug in the stomach of Lucy and a few other victims.
But before she can board the flight, a vicious kicking by a would-be rapist ruptures the packet leaking its contents into her body.
Interesting Fiction
The movie propagates the fiction, articulated by Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman), that humans use a mere 10% of brain capacity and speculates on the amazing possibilities if humans could use more of their brain capacity.
The beauty of the film is in using this notion of brain use and its enhancement to underpin a fast-paced crime thriller.
As you may have guessed, the rapture of the dangerous drug packet in her stomach sends Lucy’s brain use soaring.
As Lucy says of her new powers:
I feel everything, space, vibration, people, gravity, rotation of earth, heat in my body, blood flowing in my veins….
Folks, if ever I say that Scarlett Johansson can’t act, show me the door.
She owns this movie with Choi Min-sik, Morgan Freeman (who plays a Professor) and Amr Waked (the French cop) relegated to supporting roles.
Sure, some of the stuff won’t make sense.
But for suspending disbelief, the viewer’s reward is a rich entertainer shot beautifully by cinematographer Thierry Arbogast.
SearchIndia.com gets a mighty kick out of recommending Lucy to all of you.
Lucy Review – Superb Thriller added by SearchIndia.com on
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SearchIndia.com Responds:
Sweetie, calling me names because you disagree with the review is hardly likely to run well with yours truly.
You haven’t even seen the movie!
Still, you’re getting your panties in a twist because another review says the movie is bad.
Bagh bagh d k bose d k bose…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I can barely remember Delhi Belly now.
Update: (After reading Wiki)
But if you’re comparing Lucy to DB, it’s a stretch.
Or maybe you’re referring to above commenter. 😉
The commenter’s name reminded me of that song.
Yet to see Lucy.
I saw the Ape movie… Liked it!
Were you able to watch Fargo from your local library.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Lucy is more fast paced than the ape movie.
Fargo? Not yet.
Just got a Russian film – In The Fog
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/v_tumane_2012
Interesting movie!
But I would not have been sure about SI’s take on it, had I watched it before reading this review!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I might watch it again once the DVD comes to RedBox or Netflix.
This movie about what happens when someone uses 100% of their Brain’s capacity has drained me of my 10%.
It reminds me of 2001:A Space Odyssey, an obscure movie with lights and patterns flickering for the last 15 mins.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Just you wait.
Bollywood will steal the Lucy plot soon. They already stole one of Luc Besson’s previous films (Leon: The Professional) and turned it into a nightmare called Bichoo (Bobby Deol, Rani Mukherji).
Leon: The Professional was even plagiarized in Tamil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriya_Paarvai
SearchIndia.com Responds:
OMG!
This stealing by Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood etc is terrible. 🙁