Capsule Film Review: Lucy (2014)

The plot of 2014 science fiction film Lucy is based on unscientific urban legend about average humans using only 10% capacity of their brains. Protagonist, played by Scarlett Johansson, is an party-loving American student in Taiwan who agrees to help her boyfriend smuggle drugs, not knowing that the drug is experimental and that increasing brain usage is one of its effects. Lucy soon develops new superhuman skills which would be handy in evading Mr. Jang (played by Choi Min-sik), vicious drug boss who pursues in order to retrieve stolen drug. Directed by French filmmaker Luc Besson with uncharacteristically high budget for European film, Lucy features some impressive scenes, especially at the end where Besson appears to pay homage to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Unfortunately, the script is a complete mess, which often sacrifices common sense for opportunity to portray mayhem, including apocalyptic shootouts at the streets of Paris which Lucy with all her superhuman abilities fails to prevent.

RATING: 4/10