Luc Besson’s new sci-fi movie Lucy is as hollow as it is entertaining. You can very well imagine the kind of film Lucy might be with Besson as director. The French writer-director is known for his screenplay for many notable action movies and the direction of some punchy thrillers, including Leon: The Professional and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. This new modern-day action sci-fi thriller Lucy is yet another addition to the director’s feat.

Scarlett Johansson plays the lead character Lucy, a woman who finds herself trapped in a drug trafficking racket but ends up doing things out of human logic.

‘Lucy’ – Plot Summary

The story goes like this: Lucy is an innocent American girl living and studying in Taipei, Taiwan. One day, her boyfriend tricked her to deliver a suitcase filled with some unknown drugs CPH4 to the drug mafia Mr. Jang.

After a few hours or so, Lucy wakes up with a stitched stomach into which a packet of those drugs is stuffed into. She is forced to travel to someplace and deliver the drugs in order to retain her freedom, but as the packet bursts in her stomach, Lucy develops some very powerful abilities.

With the effects of drugs in her body, she gains numerous powers, she unlocks more and more of her brain. She can control others and even see the world as it really is.

The film explores the possibilities of a normal human being – who only uses 10 percent of his brain (don’t know if this is a myth or scientifically proven) – getting to use more of his/her mental ability, up to 100 percent.

Morgan Freeman plays a professor who has done his research and has developed several assumptions about what might happen to people if they start using more than 10 percent of their brains. Even though it’s all fiction when we are not sure if this “10 percent myth”, it’s true that we are only using a small part of our mental and physical resources.

Nevertheless, while scientists and psychologists can do their research on this, let’s enjoy the movie and the incredible performance by Scarlett Johansson as Lucy. Let’s assume that Lucy is a film mere based on fiction and no science. The moment you think it’s a science-fiction film; you might be weighed down by the level of fictionalization.

Watch the ‘Lucy’ movie trailer

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Amr Waked, Choi Min-sik
Written and Directed by Luc Besson
Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast
Release Date: 25 July 2014 (United States)

Also Read: Peppermint (2018) – Jennifer Garner in this cliché-filled action thriller

Where to watch Lucy (2014)