Chris At The Pictures

From director Luc Besson – taking a break from producing more Taken sequels – Lucy is a science-fiction thriller starring Scarlett Johansson. When the eponymous heroine is caught up in a drug deal in which a performance-enhancing substance leaks into her bloodstream, she soon discovers that the unreachable 90% of her brain capacity are slowly unlocking, giving way to a vast range of new abilities. With the help of a genetics professor (Morgan Freeman), Lucy attempts to escape her captors and control her developing powers before she is consumed by them.

2014 has certainly been a bumper year for Scarlett Johansson, from her ethereal performance in Under the Skin to her star turn in Spike Jonze’s Her, she’s had a lot to offer, and Lucy is no different. Initially terrified and believably stricken, her performance develops as her powers escalate, slowly becoming cold and detached from the world, a near-reversal of Under the Skin, where in this case her humanity fades and a cold and calculated killer emerges. Sadly Morgan Freeman feels easily replaceable in his role, almost an offshoot of his character in Transcendence, a film we shall return to later. Where other characters are concerned there is very little to speak of, as none of them are given any real development but if anything this helps the film keep focus on Lucy.

The film is terrifically shot, the fast-paced handheld work knowing when to hand things over to a slower, more intimate technique when there is pause to reflect, and is perfectly echoed by composer Eric Serra, who I for one am glad to see back in Besson’s capable hands. Providing a musical backdrop that wavers from bass-heavy electro in the action set pieces to smaller yet dramatic motifs in the quiet spells, one can easily see why Serra and cinematographer Thierry Arbogast are Besson’s favoured sons. This combination alone is what helps the film survive a rather choppy and mishandled opening twenty minutes.

To return to Transcendence then, a film which I favoured much more than it probably deserved due to the clear ambition beneath the surface. In a similar fashion, the final third of Lucy is remarkable for the director’s unrelenting aspirations to films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey. Without wishing to spoil it, the ending yearns to stretch far beyond the limitations one would expect of a typical action thriller and into the realms of full-on science fiction fantasy, sporting some truly gorgeous visuals courtesy of the ever-reliable Industrial Light and Magic. Sadly an earlier sub-plot becomes entangled with the ending and saps a little of the emotional resonance, as does a strain of cold detachment in the tone. This may arguably be there to enhance the final message of the movie but it remains a hindrance to investment in the chracters.

Lucy is a film I admire more for its ambition than technical prowess, and while still a decent thriller interwoven with supernatural elements, the latter soon becomes too much for the rest of the film to handle and narrowly escapes collapsing under its own weight. It is nevertheless intriguing, great to look at, acted well, and comes packed with an ending that will leave your head spinning. Returning Luc Besson to form and creating another addition to Johansson’s rapidly expanding portfolio, it’s worth the watch.

3 stars